FRANKLIN, IN – The Wilmington College men's cross country team finished second of 12 teams in the Sodexco Grizzlie Invite held on the campus of Franklin College.

"I am very happy with the men finishing second," said Wilmington head coach Ron Combs. "The Heartland Conference meet is on this course in October, so the meet was bigger and more competitive than it normally is. I thought it was a really good test for the guys. We ran strong near the front with our top three. I think our success this year is going to be based on whether or not we can find a consistent person to run closer to our top four. If we do that, we could be pretty strong."

Sophomore Griffin Stith (Batavia, OH/Batavia) finished ninth (28:13.12) and was followed closely by his twin Hunter Stith (Batavia, OH/Batavia), who finished 10th (28:19.44). Freshman Rick Pride (Mount Orab, OH/Western Brown) placed 12th overall, covering the distance in 28:29.36.

Freshman Matt Baker (Liberty Center, OH/Liberty Center) was the fourth Wilmington runner to complete the course (29:20.46) and sophomore Tony Wydra (Miamisburg, OH/Miamisburg) was the final scoring runner, placing 31st (29:37.07).

Only two runners competed on the women's side as freshman Alexis Rhodes (Old Fort, OH/Old Fort) placed 44th (28:04.24) and junior Stephanie Fetters (West Milton, OH/Milton Union) was 69th in 30:52.63.

"I thought Alexis Rhodes did a nice job in hot conditions for her first 6K race," said Combs.

Wilmington returns to action Friday at the Heidelberg Invitational.