SMITHFIELD, R.I. - The Southern New Hampshire men and women's cross country teams each finished fourth at the Bryant Invitational held on the campus of Bryant University Saturday morning.  The men's team was paced by top five finishes from Alex Brown (Hudson, NH) and Nick Watts (Pittsfield, NH), while the women's squad had two runners in the top 11, Svea Dellea-Messner (Windham, NH) and Melissa Hurley (Ashaway, RI).

Brown, a junior, finished third overall with a 28:30 effort over the 8K course, good for the 10th best time in program history, one week after he posted the fourth-best time in school history at the Shacklette Invitational.  Classmate Watts finished in fifth place overall with a 28:40 effort.  Spencer Rennick (Peabody, MA) was the next Penmen finisher, posting a time of 31:40 to place 22nd.

Steve Brown (Hudson, NH) finished 25th with a time of 32:22, while Sam Tarrant (Cleverdale, NY) was right behind him at 32:30.  Michael Smith (Lynnfield, MA) was 29th with a 32:56 effort, while Matt Caredeo (Salem, NH) placed 31st with a 33:28 time.

In the women's race, Dellea-Messner finished eighth overall, coming in with a time of 22:21 over the 5K distance.  Hurley placed 11th with a 22:31 effort, while Margaret Shields (Smithfield, RI) placed 20th in her hometown with a time of 23:50.  Amanda Soares (Woburn, MA) had a time of 26:00 to finish 25th, while Emily Smith (Needham, MA) placed 28th overall with a 32:18 mark.

The Southern New Hampshire cross country teams return to action next Saturday when they compete in the Pop Crowell Invitational at Gordon College.