MANCHESTER, N.H. - Led by a sixth place finish by junior Alex Brown (Hudson, NH) in the men's race, the Southern New Hampshire University men's and women's cross country teams competed in the 26th annual Shacklette Invitational hosted by Saint Anselm College on Saturday.  Both squads finished in fifth place overall in team scoring.

Brown's 28:03 time on the 8K course was a collegiate personal best, shattering his old mark by 15 seconds, and also marked the fourth-best time in the 11-year history of the program.  Classmate Nick Watts (Pittsfield, NH) finished in 10th place overall with a time of 28:31.  Steve Brown (Hudson, NH) placed 28th with a 30:53 effort while Spencer Rennick (Peabody, MA) (31:04) finished 29th.  Sam Tarrant (Cleverdale, NY) posted a time of 31:36 to come in 33rd, while Matt Caredeo (Salem, NH) placed 38th with a 32:16 mark.

Leading the women's team was junior Svea Dellea-Messner (Windham, NH) who finished 12th overall with a time of 21:59.  Freshman Melissa Hurley (Ashaway, RI) was 17th with a time of 22:21, while Margaret Shields (Smithfield, RI) was 22nd with a 22:57 effort.  Amanda Soares (Woburn, MA) placed 38th with a time of 24:09 while Allison Trafton (Salem, NH) finished 45th with a time of 25:12.  Emily Smith (Needham, MA) completed the course in 32:04.

The Southern New Hampshire cross country teams return to action next Saturday when they travel to Bryant University to take part in the Bryant Invitational.