NEW YORK, N.Y. - The George Mason men's cross country team put the finishing touches on its 2008 season with a 12th-place finish in the team scoring at the highly-competitive IC4A Championship race on Saturday morning at Van Cortlandt Park in New York, N.Y. The top finisher for the Patriots was freshman Everett Hackett, who crossed the finish line in 28th place with a time of 25:55 in the five-mile run.

The next Mason student-athlete to finish the race was Scott Tekesky, who ran a time of 26:06 to take the 40th place in the race. James Snyder (26:25), Chris Palmer (26:40) and James Burns (26:41) rounded out the Patriots that registered in the team score. Also running at the meet were Robert Reynolds (26:59), Matt Bailey (27:18), Michael Duncanson (27:30), Jason Hartman (28:15) and Jesse Saldana (28:52).

Mason finished in 12th place with 274 team points at the meet. Duke won the race with 48 points, followed by Duquesne (87) and Marist (102) to round out the top three

The 2008 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship race will take place on Monday, Nov. 24 at LaVern Gibson Course in Terre Haute, Ind. While the team was competitive throughout the 2008 men's cross country season, the Patriots were unable to qualify for the event after finishing in 16th place at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship on Nov. 15 at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, N.C.