WATERFORD, Conn. -- The Allegheny College men's cross won the first of two eight-kilometer races held at the Connecticut College Invitational on Saturday and placed two runners inside the top five.

The Gators were first of 15 teams in the "white' race, which was held separately from the feature run. Allegheny finished with only 72 points, a 27-point lead over the runners-up from Eastern Connecticut State (99).

The win is the first for the Allegheny men's team since finishing atop the leaderboard in the Chatham Cougar Challenge and Allegheny Classic to start the 2021 season.

Four of the team's scoring runners were inside the top 20, led by junior Sean Heintzleman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Winchester Thurston) in second place and first-year Caleb Freeman (Killingworth, Conn./Haddam-Killingworth) in fifth. Heintzleman and Freeman recorded 8K personal records with a times of 26:09.9 and 26:29.4, respectively.

Team Results
1. Allegheny - 72
2. Eastern Connecticut State - 99
3. Brandeis - 109
4. USCGA - 130
5. Babson - 150
6. Rhode Island College - 151
7. Plattsburgh State - 152
8. Union (N.Y.) - 163
9. Ramapo - 165
10. Westfield State - 243
11. SUNY New Paltz - 262
12. Colby-Sawyer - 377
13. Worcester State - 381
14. Clark (Mass.) - 396
15. Saint Joseph (Conn.) - 404

Allegheny Results
2. Sean Heintzleman - 26:09.90
5. Caleb Freeman - 26:29.40
18. Joe McAuliffe - 26:56.10
20. Peter Lantz - 27:05.50
27. Xavier Grove - 27:18.00
33. Patrick Sharp - 27:35.90
35. Colm Mulligan - 27:41.30
55. Mac Polny - 28:31.90
61. William Lane - 28:57.30
73. Ryan Stuart - 29:35.20
112. Eliel Cortez - 32:33.00

Up Next
Postseason races begin in two weeks, when the Gators head to the campus of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, for the 2022 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championships on Saturday, October 29.