DALLAS, PA (August 29, 2025) — The King's College men's cross country team kicked off their season with a fifth-place finish out of 11 teams at the Misericordia Invitational on Friday evening.

Sophomore Preston Klem paced the Monarchs, crossing the 4,000-meter course at Letterkenny Fields in 17th place with a time of 13:17.00. First year Cohen Claar followed closely, finishing 24th at 13:40.50. Sophomore Ben Wnuk came in 27th with a time of 13:47.90, while first year Ryan Baxter placed 33rd in 14:11.10. First year Casimir Glaude completed the scoring five with a 36th-place finish at 14:42.00.

King's totaled 137 points with a combined time of 1:09:38.40, averaging 13:55.70 per runner to secure their fifth-place team standing.

The Monarchs had a strong opening day outside their top five as Sebastian Williams and Victor Cocchiaro made their collegiate debuts, finishing back-to-back in 15:13.00 and 15:18.30, respectively, while Will McCarroll crossed in 15:25.20. John Gillespie and Vincent Fazzino came in neck-and-neck, with Gillespie posting a time of 15:31.70 and Fazzino right behind in 15:32.00. Noah Kolinovsky finished in 16:17.80 in his first race as a Monarch, and Alek Gorski rounded out the team's efforts in 17:09.20.

The Monarchs are set to return to the course on Friday, September 13th at 11:00 a.m. for the Cougar Classic, once again hosted by Misericordia University.