The #21 Middlebury men's cross country team took home first place at the Silloway Maple Syrup Challenge, scoring 23 points. Seven Panthers finished in the top-10 spots, with Harry Griff breaking the tape first. Fitchburg State grabbed the runner-up spot with 52 points while Norwich closed out the team podium with 73 points. 
 
COURSE INFORMATION 

• Location: Randolph, Vt. 
• Host School: Vermont Tech
• Distance: 8 kilometers (8K)
• Weather: Partly cloudy, low 70s
• Place: 1st of 8

HIGHLIGHTS

• Griff finished in first place out of 86 runners with a time of 28:11:00.
• Cameron Miles grabbed fourth place, stopping the clock at 28:44.16 in his first race for the Panthers. Teammate Shef West finished less than four seconds behind Miles (28:48.03) to secure a top five nod. 
• Tucker Jakobe (29:00.71) and Ben Prestes (29:02.71) earned seventh and eighth, respectively. 
• Frederick Alfonso-Frank (29:16.59 - ninth) and Raymond Pavlik (29:26.44 - 10th) rounded out the competition for Middlebury. 

NOTES

• Griff's victory is the first in his collegiate career.
• Today's triumph marks the eighth-consecutive season that the Panthers have won the Maple Syrup Team Challenge. 

Middlebury returns to the course next weekend at its annual Aldrich Invitational on Saturday at 11:00 am.