From NYU Athletics

The New York University men's cross country team finished in fourth place at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship, which was held at Garret Mountain Reservation in Woodland Park, NJ, on Saturday, October 28.

The Violets totaled 107 points, just six behind the third-place finisher, Emory University.

Washington University in St. Louis captured the title with 40 points, while Carnegie Mellon University placed second with 79.

NYU's Neil Saddler placed second individually with a time of 26:06.2 over the 8K course. David O'Gara of Washington won the 80-person race with a time of 25:36.6.

"Neil ran incredibly well," said Head Coach Erison Hurtault. "He's mixing it up with the best runners in our conference, some of the best company in the nation. I see great things from him for the rest of the cross-country season."

Also finishing within the top-10 for NYU was Brandon Shirazi, who took 10th place with a time of 26:28.2.

"Brandon ran a really great race," Hurtault offered.

Next across the line for the Violets was another top-20 finisher, Robert DeSisto, who took 17th place in a time of 26:43.9. Also scoring for NYU were Ben Karam (43th place, 27:34.2) and Jordan Reyes (45th, 27:34.2).

"There are six or seven nationally-ranked teams here," said Hurtault. "Anytime you're in that situation, there's no telling what will happen on that day. We were hoping for third or better, but this can happen when you're going against some high-quality competitors. I would have liked us to do better, but our finish is more than respectable."