BRONX, N.Y. — (November 17, 2012) – A six-place finish (26:21.4) from junior Chris Banafato (Bridgewater, N.J.) and an 11th-place run (26:30.9) from sophomore Chris Defabio (Millington, N.J.) powered the Rutgers men’s cross country team to a third place finish Saturday afternoon  in the 104th IC4A University Division Championships.

The meet marked the final competition of the season for the Scarlet Knights, who improved from an eighth-place finish in last year’s event with 108 points in the five-mile meet. Fairfield University edged out Fordham University, 59-58, to win the championship.

Sophomore Anthony Horton (Moorestown, N.J.) rounded out the top three for RU by finishing 23rd with a time of 26:54. Freshman Jaimin Vekaria (Clinton, N.J.) and junior Curtis Richburg (West Orange, N.J.) finished 31st (27:04.1) and 37th (27:09.8), respectively.

The Scarlet Knights begin the 2012-13 indoor track season on Saturday, Dec. 10 at the New Year’s Invitational, hosted by Princeton.

Individual Results

6          Chris Banafato (26:21.4)

11        Chris Defabio (26:30.9)

23        Anthony Horton (26:54)

31        Jaimin Vekaria (27:04.1)

37        Curtis Richburg (27:09.8)

69        Daniel Lee (27:53.4)

73        Steve Burkholder (27:59.3)

117      Thomas Bragen (29:29.4)