DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Matyas Csiki-Fejer anchored the Suffolk men's cross country squad to a sixth-place showing at the 48th UMass Dartmouth Invitational Saturday morning at the Coach Robert Dowd Cross Country Course on UMass Dartmouth's campus.
The Robert 'Buddy' Harris UMass Dartmouth Invitational has been a staple on Suffolk's schedule since Will Feldman took over the program. The Rams' sixth-place performance is the highest-ever for the blue-and-gold at the annual event, that includes competition from all NCAA divisions.
Suffolk, who garnered the program's first-ever weekly regional ranking from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) this week, kept pace with UMass Lowell (107), Trinity (107) (No. 8 Mideast), WPI (108), who is receiving votes in the national poll, Franklin Pierce (137) and Babson (180) (No. 9 East), who took spots one through five in that order.
The Rams 242 team score blew their Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) counterparts Roger Williams (300 - ninth), the University of New England (489 – 16th), Nichols (643 – 25th) and Western New England (777 – 29th) out of the water. The blue-and-gold also bested NCAA Division I member Holy Cross (570 – 21st) as well as DII foes St. Anselm's (355 – 11th) and Stonehill (455 – 15th).
Csiki-Fejer paced the Rams' runners on the five-mile course to their best team result. The senior from Manchester, Missouri, shaved 1:23.30 of his personal-record time, which was good enough for second-place at the same event two years ago, to capture individual medalist honors. His time of 23:36.30, a Rams' record, topped the field of 256 student-athletes and was then runner-up David Reynolds of WPI.
Every Ram who battled in the varsity meet Saturday produced a personal-record. Suffolk veteran senior Nic Malm came through the finisher's chute in 26:14.80 to take 59th, while Cole Bolduc clocked a 26:38.60 to claim 87th.
Tim Barry, Selvin Backert and Connor Hayward all raced their first collegiate five-miler.
Barry logged a 25:43.80 to finish second for Suffolk and 39th overall. The freshman from Westborough, Massachusetts, was the fastest CCC rookie to race. Barry's classmate, Hayward, meanwhile, was the third Rams runner to cross the tape and did so in 26:19.20 to take 66th.
Backert, who missed his first freshman cross country campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic, made the most of his first five-mile course with a time of 28:08.00, good for 158th.
The blue-and-gold was also well presented in the junior varsity run.
Senior Arthur Lacerda and junior Justin Turner were the only veterans in a group of seven Rams cross country rookies. The former finished 58th behind a time of 29:05.70, while the latter took 42nd thanks to his 28:26.70 performance.
Suffolk's nine-runner contingent in the first race of the day featured true freshmen Conor Garrity (28:23.00), Jadan Wenceslao (28:30.60), Zachary Martin (30:06.20) and Evan Wright (31:10.50), as well as sophomores Kely Maloney (28:05.60), Shea Duffy (28:52.70) and Thomas Fidrocki (30:40.80). These seven Rams raced a five-mile for the first time in their collegiate careers.
In the JV race, Suffolk's squad place in the middle of the 13-team pack in eight.
The Rams will now rest from competition until Saturday, Oct. 2 when they head to Geneseo, New York, for the Mike Woods Invitational.
