Hempstead, NY – The Hofstra Men's Cross Country team returns to action this Friday, October 26 when the Pride host the Colonial Athletic Association Men's Championship at the Bethpage State Park Polo Grounds. The men's 8K race begins at 11 a.m.

For live results, highlights, recaps, and more, visit the CAA Championship Central.

The Pride is coming off a 20^th-place finish at the Princeton University Invitational on October 12. Three of the five Hofstra runners posted season-best 8K times. Hofstra freshman Steven Fiumefreddo finished 151st to lead the Pride. Fiumefreddo clocked a time of 26:20 to lead the Pride. Classmate Paul Markovina posted his best 8K time by placing 172^nd in 26:45.

Sophomore Tosin Ibironke also recorded a season-best time of 27:12 for 189^th place, besting his previous mark by 54 seconds. Junior Dante Perez posted a time of 28:02 to place 210^th. That was his best time by 31 seconds this season. Sophomore Marc Meltzer placed 211^th in 28:14 to round out the five Hofstra runners. In the final team standings, the Pride finished with 645 points in the 20-team field.

A day after the Princeton Invitational, Pride freshman Meshack Kipchirchir broke the Hofstra school record for the second time this season at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals in Madison, Wisconsin. Kipchirchir finished 25^th and posted a time of 24:26 to best his previous school record of 24:29, set on September 29 at Lehigh University's Paul Short Run. The Pre-Nationals featured 35 of the top programs and 242 of the top runners in the country.

This season five schools will be looking to upset the 18-time defending champion William and Mary Tribe when the gun goes off on Friday. The Tribe is the only team in the CAA that is regionally ranked, coming in at number 12in the USTFCCCA Southeast Regional poll as of October 15.

In the 2017 CAA Men's Cross Country Championship, Hofstra's Alan Hetherington earned All-Colonial Athletic Association honors to lead the Pride Men's Cross Country team to a fifth-place finish at the Elon University Cross Country Course. Hetherington equaled his personal best 8K time to finish in 11th-place in 25:50 and earn his first All-CAA accolade. He was the second Hofstra men's runner to earn All-CAA honors in the past three seasons following Douglas Dourado's 12th-place finish in 2015.

Junior Dante Perez recorded a time of 27:20 to finish 33rd while senior Austin Jenkins was the Pride's third finisher in 27:27 to place 35th. Freshman Marc Meltzer finished in 41st place in 28:18 while freshman Tosin Ibironke finished 42nd in 28:25. Senior Rodney Chirchir rounded out the Pride field finishing in 43rd place in 28:44.

Hofstra accumulated 133 points to take fifth place in the 2017 CAA Championship that was won by the Tribe of William and Mary for the 18th consecutive year. The Tribe posted 23 points by placing all five of their runners in the top nine spots. Northeastern was second with 59 points, Elon was third with 93, Charleston was fourth with 98, Hofstra was fifth and UNC-Wilmington was sixth with 143 points. J.P. Trojan of William and Mary was the individual champion in 25:01.