HANOVER, N.H. ? The Monmouth University men's and women's cross country teams ran at the 2008 Dartmouth XC Invitational on Saturday, with each team finishing sixth out of seven teams in their respective races. The women's course was 5.6 kilometers (3.45 miles) and the men's course was 5 miles.

MU's top woman finisher, Cailin Lynam (Sparta, N.J./Sparta), finishing ninth in a time of 20:51. Christine Altland (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) was the next Hawk to cross the finish line, finishing 22nd in a time of 21:19. Senior Jessica Jones (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Dallas) finished 26th in a time of 21:34 and reigning Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week Juliet Smith finished 36th in 21:48. Courtney Spratford (Califon, N.J./Voorhees) finished 40th, running 21:57, Deanna Bishop finished 46th in 22:11 and Laura Embrey finished in 56th place in a time of 22:41.

The MU men were led by Peter Forgach (Long Branch, N.J./Red Bank Catholic), who finished seventh in a time of 26:27. Ben Hutterer was the next harrier to cross the tape; finishing 35th in 27:17 and Billy Dowd was next, coming in 47th and in a time of 27:41. Alec Richardson finished in 59th running 28:15 and Mike Bertocchi crossed the tape in 65th place finishing in 28:25. A trio of freshmen, Ryan Mulligan, Vin Improta and Dan Collura, finished 69-71 for the MU men.

"We faced some tough teams on a challenging course, and we honestly did not have the results we could have had," said head coach Joe Compagni. "But it was a valuable learning experience and a strong test that will benefit us the rest of the season."

Next week, the Hawks host the Monmouth Invitational on Friday at Holmdel Park with the women running at 4:15 p.m. and the men starting at 5:00 p.m.