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Story courtesy of Rob Palardy, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Lesley University men's and women's cross country teams competed in the Roger Williams Invitational under muggy conditions this past weekend and both squads experienced some success against a slew of talented running programs from New England.

In the men's race, the Lynx were led by Fran Cusick (LEXINGTON, Mass./Arlington Catholic) who was barely beat out by a runner from Bridgewater State College for fourth place by tenths of a second.  Cusick finished in fifth with a time of 16:31.87 in the 5K race. 

Brian Axelrod (RIVER VALE, N.J./Pascack Valley) gave a solid effort in his race as he clocked in at 18:35.90 and earned his team 32 points. 

The rest of the men's team rounded out a total score of 181 points for the Lynx which was good for sixth place out of eight finish teams at the invitational.  Lesley finished ahead of fellow New England Collegiate Conference team Mitchell College who were the eight place team.

On the women's side, freshman Noa Kupfer (WOODBRIDGE, Conn./Amity Regional) continued her dominant start to the 2009 season with a ninth place overall finish in 5K race with a time of 21:23.11. 

Fellow freshman Elissa May (MIDDLEBORO, Mass./Middleboro) put in her best race of the early fall season thus far coming in at 23:21.79 which gave the women's team 34 points.  She finished just behind senior Lynx runner Jess Arnold (HILTON, N.Y./Hilton) who finished at 23:21.00.

As a team, the Lynx tallied 146 points and finished in sixth place ahead of fellow NECC institution Wheelock College. 

Both teams will run in the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational on the campus of UMass-Dartmouth on Saturday, September 19 starting at 10:00 am.

To learn more about the Lesley University men's and women's cross country programs, please visit their website.