DARLINGTON, S.C. – Led by a top-10 finish from Noah Chevalier, the Lander men's cross country team placed third at the Coker Cobras XC Invitational on Friday afternoon in the shadow of Darlington Raceway.

The Bearcats finished with 72 points in the 13-team field, trailing only Belmont Abbey, which won the meet with 46 points, and Lees-McRae, which finished second with 58.

Chevalier led Lander with an eighth-place finish in the 8K, crossing the line in a season-best time of 26:17.3. Noah Larkin followed closely behind in 10th, posting a personal-best time of 26:25.7.

Jonathan Cummings gave the Bearcats three runners inside the top 15, finishing 13th in 26:32.0. Cummings entered the meet coming off a school-record performance at the Royals XC Challenge, where he ran 25:53.6.

Jayden Metzler placed 22nd in 27:28.4, while Seth Hammon rounded out Lander's scoring five with a 23rd-place finish in a personal-best 27:31.2.

Griffin Freeman finished just behind Hammon in 24th, recording a personal-best time of 27:34.0, while Ronin Kruse followed in 25th with another personal best of 27:42.6.

Tariku Thompson placed 38th in 28:21.2, and Noah Blankenship finished 46th in 28:45.7, with both runners recording personal-best performances.

Bryan Wright crossed the line in 59th at 29:35.3, followed by Trey Sloan in 70th at 29:58.5 and Jasiah Whitfield in 73rd at 30:04.0.

Cooper Mayo finished 75th in 30:12.0, while Aaron Cameron rounded out the Lander finishers in 80th with a personal-best time of 30:28.9.

The Bearcats will now prepare for the Peach Belt Conference Championships on Nov. 7 in Macon, Georgia.