UTICA, N.Y. – On Saturday, Oct. 31, the Hartwick College men's cross country team will compete in the 2026 Empire 8 Men's Cross Country Championship at the SUNY Poly Cross Country Course. The eight-kilometer men's race is set to begin at 12 p.m. Live results are available for the race at the link above.
ABOUT THE 2025 EMPIRE 8 CHAMPIONSHIP: Last year, Hartwick finished eighth in the conference championship race, with then-freshman
Avery Lungstrom (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) leading the charge as the Hawks' top finisher.
Erik Higgins (Buffalo, N.Y./Amherst Central) was the next Hawk to finish, followed shortly after by
Devon Spalding (Mineola, N.Y./Mineola).
Geneseo took the team win, posting five top-10 finishes, including three top-five marks. Bennett Melita of Utica won the championship race, leading his team to a second-place finish. He returns in 2026 looking to defend his individual title.
ABOUT THE HAWKS: The Hawks will be running a very familiar course this weekend, as they will make their third trip of the season to the SUNY Poly Cross Country Course. They finished second at the SUNY Poly Short Course Invitational on Sept. 5 to open the season, then placed third at the Bill Tylutiki Wildcat Invitational on Sept. 26.
Erik Higgins led the first race of the season, posting a mark of 22:23.0 in the 6k race, with Lungstrom not far behind with a mark of 22:28.8. Freshman
Andrew Montalvo (Smithtown, N.Y./Bel Air) finished right behind Lungstrom, and right behind him was sophomore
Basil Metz (Highland, N.Y./Highland).
In the team's next appearance at the course they will race this weekend,
Erik Higgins was once again the team's top finisher, this time posting a mark of 30:41.0 in the 8k race. Montalvo followed closely at 30:48.9, while Metz was next at 31:22.0.
This season,
Erik Higgins has been the team's top finisher in all three races he has competed in. Lungstrom has been the team's top finisher twice, posting top three team marks in two other races, while Montalvo was the top finisher for his team in their last race.
EMPIRE 8 CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: Since joining the league in 2024, Geneseo has won both men's cross country titles, with Houghton pulling off the last team title not by the Knights in 2023. Former E8 school Ithaca has the most team titles, with another former E8 team, RIT, with the next most titles at five. Utica's Bennett Melita has won two of the last three individual titles, winning his freshman year in 2023 and last season as a junior.
