MEADVILLE, Pa. - Competing in his final career home cross country event, Allegheny senior Matt Svetz placed fourth overall to help lead the Gators to a third-place finish at the 2018 Allegheny Classic at the Robertson Athletic Complex.

In a competitive field, Svetz turned in a time of 20:50 in the four mile race to place fourth in a 118-runner field.  His fourth-place finish comes on the heels of his first-place effort in the season-opening dual at Chatham University on September 1, while the Gator veteran now owns five top-10 finishes in cross country over the past two seasons.

As also was the case at Chatham, fellow senior Louis McUmber was Allegheny's second finisher on the afternoon. A Meadville Area Senior High graduate like his teammate Svetz, McUmber covered the course in a time of 21:45 to place 24th overall.

Gator rookie Tim Weighart turned in a strong performance in his first career home race, as he turned in a time of 21:51 to place 27th overall, and fourth among first-years in the field, to sit as Allegheny's number-three man.

Juniors Seth Conard (22:33) and Luke Kellett (22:36) placed 44th and 46th, respectively, to close out the Gators' top five, while sophomore Jared Szklenski (22:38) and Benjamin Slack-Foust (22:46) finished 48th and 50th to round out Allegheny's scoring seven.

Junior Gabe Herbst gave the Gators' eight runners in the top half of the field, placing 57th in 23:05. 

Washington & Jefferson's Harley Moyer won the individual title with a time of 20:30, a comfortable 17-second margin over runner-up Liam Walsh of Carnegie Mellon. Gannon's Joseph Westrick placed third in 20:48, just over two seconds ahead of the Gators' Svetz.

With six runners placing in the top-10, Carnegie Mellon won the team title with an impressive 31 points, with Case Western Reserve placing a distant second with 63.  The Gators tallied 97 points to take third, seven points ahead of fourth-place Washington & Jefferson. Gannon (123), Waynesburg (179), Chatham (183), the Allegheny Alumni (223), Kent State-Trumbull (269), and Thiel (297) rounded out the team standings.  Individuals from Mount Aloysius, Edinboro, Penn State-DuBois, and Kent State-Tuscarawas also competed in the event.

The Gators will now have a 14-day respite before returning to action on Sept. 29 at the Paul Short Run, hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.