The men’s cross country team won its third meet of the season Saturday. The Bombers defeated host Roberts Wesleyan College by 10 points to win the Harry F. Anderson Invitational.

The team was led by senior Morty Caster, who finished second overall with a time of 26:52. He narrowly defeated the two runners who finished third and fourth by two seconds. Caster finished second to one of the top runners at this level in the country, Julius Rono of Roberts Wesleyan. Rono won the race by almost a full minute and a half.

Despite the Bombers having to concede first to Rono, they were able to defeat Roberts Wesleyan because their top five runners finished in the top 10.

Sophomore Tim Shea and senior Steve Mulhern were the team’s second and third finishers behind Caster. They placed sixth and seventh with times of 27:16 and 27:20, respectively.

Once again Ithaca’s freshmen stepped up to help the team win the meet. Freshmen Curt Bell and Scott Walker placed ninth and 10th overall at the meet to round out the team’s top five. Bell finished in a time of 27:33 and Walker crossed the line in 27:38.

The Bombers also helped themselves by having their sixth and seventh finishers, sophomores Drew Hodge and Corey Schalleck, finish in front of Roberts Wesleyan’s fifth runner.

The team is running well going into the important part of their schedule. They have the Empire 8 championship race next week, followed by the state and regional championships in the subsequent weeks.