The Syracuse Orange cross-country teams opened up the NCAA qualifying season on Friday at the Spiked Shoe Invitational hosted by the Penn State Nittany Lions. Syracuse’s third-ranked men’s team won the meet, which was scored as five dual meets, behind Aidan Tooker’s 2nd place finish (25:50 for the 5.2 mile course). Tooker was followed by Kevin James (4th in 26:06), Joe Dragon (6th in 26:14), Dom Hockenbury (8th in 26:18) and Simon Smith (11th in 26:25).
The Orange depth was on display in Happy Valley as the five Syracuse runners were seperated by only 35 seconds, which is what allowed the Orange to edge Penn State 26-29 in the closest scoring of the five duals.