NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Bentley University junior Rob Dextradeur (Branford, Conn./Branford HS) opened his season by breaking the tape at the UMass-Dartmouth Shriners Men's Cross Country Invitational Saturday afternoon.  The victory was his third since the start of last season.

Dextradeur's effort helped Bentley finish third in a field of 34 with a score of 134 points. MIT, with five of the top ten across the finish line, ran away with the team title, with its score of 31 giving the Engineers a 48-point victory over runner-up Brandeis University.

Dextradeur, one of a number of Bentley runners to set personal bests on the day, covered the 5,000-meter course in 24:35.  He crossed the line 16 seconds in front of MIT's Dan Harper and averaged 4:57 per mile. Last season, he posted winning performances at both the Saint Anselm Shacklette Invitational and the St. Rose Cross Country Joust.

Bentley's next two finishers were also juniors, John Drago (Avon, Conn./Avon HS) and Sean Maguire (Essex, Vt./Essex HS). Drago finished 17th in 25:24, and Maguire was eight places and 20 seconds behind him.

Completing the Falcons' top five were senior Tom Witherell (Los Alamos, N.M./Los Alamos HS) (36th, 26:01) and sophomore Conor Higgins (Randolph, N.J./Randolph HS) (63rd, 26:42).  

The next meet for Bentley is the Codfish Bowl next Saturday at Franklin Park.