Rowan men’s cross country finished ninth as a team at the tenth-annual Border Battle on Saturday, hosted by Rowan at DREAM Park in Logan Township, New Jersey. The Profs tallied 250 points in the Men’s Championship Race, fueled by a tenth-place finish by graduate student Matt Conway with a time of 25:03.9. 

“Starting the race a little bit quicker so I can get up with the top pack, people who are going to be in the front the whole time,” Conway said. “And then, as people start slowing down, being mentally aware enough to realize that I have to stay awake the whole time and really start moving up.”

It’s been a strong final season for Conway, with two ninth-place finishes, one in tenth, and another in 44th out of hundreds at Lehigh’s Paul Short Run.

“I think I’ve had a good progression,” Conway said. “I think I started out a little bit slower than I necessarily wanted to, but I’m happy where I am at this point, and I’m ready to keep moving forward.”

Colin Patterson, who’s paired with Conway as the Profs’ top runners this season, finished 24th in the regular season finale. Both Conway’s time and Patterson’s time of 25:14.6 were their lifetime bests.

“The big thing, especially for Colin, is the consistency,” head coach Dustin Dimit said. “He’s had those fast times before, but not every time. He’s found a way that on a day he doesn’t feel great, that he still has a B plus day … Matt kind of got that down last year, and it’s kind of taken to another level this year, which we’re real excited to see what he can accomplish here at NJAC’s, at Regionals, and hopefully Nationals.”

Senior Anthony Faust finished 66th, just ahead of junior Aidan Brad at 72nd. Rounding out Rowan’s top five finishers was Sean Hice in 86th place.

“We were pretty happy with where people are,” Dimit said. “We see continued improvement each week, and that’s what we look for throughout cross country as we get faster, as the more important meets come up.” 

Haverford’s Micah Lachman ran a time of 24:28.8 and was the first individual finisher at DREAM Park. Emmanuel Leblond of Johns Hopkins, who won last year’s race and set a course record in Logan Township, did not compete in the event this year.

With 67 points, Carnegie Mellon was the team champion of the race, with their top five runners placing third, ninth, twelfth, seventeenth, and twenty-sixth.

Now, the page turns to the postseason for Rowan, with NJAC Championships slated for Nov. 1 at Stockton, where the Profs ran on Sept. 20 at the Osprey Open.