LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- With sophomore Rob Dextradeur (Branford, Conn./Branford HS) leading the way, the Bentley University men's cross country team came within four points of winning a third straight meet to open the season.

Competing in the Blue Race of the Greater Lousville Classic at Tom Sawyer State Park, Bentley finished with a score of 135 points, trailing Division I Marshall University by just four. A split-squad from Grand Valley State was third (175), and the top five of the 34-team meet also included Tiffin University (179) and Lewis University (196).

Dextradeur, Bentley's number one runner for the third straight race, was seventh in a field of 328, covering the 8,000-meter course in 25:17.4. He, along with the rest of his teammates, would like to make a return trip to the course in two months as it will be the site of the 2010 NCAA Division II Championships.

Dextradeur was the second Division II runner to finish in the Blue Race (a Gold Race was also held) and was fifth among collegiate runners.

Bentley's next three finishers were also sophomores. John Drago (Avon, Conn./Avon HS) was 26th in 25:43.5, Craig Robinson (Scarborough, Maine/Scarborough HS) was right behind in 27th (25:45.7) and Curtis Trueb (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester HS) was 41st in 26:00.4. Junior Bryan Sutherland (Farmingdale, N.Y./Chaminade HS) rounded out the top five, crossing 46th in 26:07.3.

The gap for the top five was about 50 seconds, and Bentley's top seven were separated by only 62.2 seconds.

Bentley returns to action next Saturday for the New England Championships at Franklin Park.

GREATER LOUISVILLE CLASSIC - BLUE RACE

At Tom Sawyer State Park, Louisville, Ky.

Team Scoring: 1. Marshall 131, 2. Bentley 135, 3. Grand Valley State* 175, 4. Tiffin 179, 5. Lewis 196, 6. Detroit Mercy 256, 7. Mars Hill 264, 8. Florida International 290, 9. Northern Kentucky 298, 10. Morehead State 323, 11. Kentucky* 367, 12. Findlay 387, 13. Evansville 398, 14. Wheeling Jesuit 402, 15. Shippensburg* 427, 16. Southern Indiana* 434, 17. King 470, 18. Mercer 474, 19. Franklin 480, 20. Ferris State 485, 21. West Virginia Wesleyan 514, 22. Centre 518, 23. Arkansas State 523, 24. Emory 554, 25. Austin Peay State 564, 26. Concord 608, 27. Alabama-Huntsville 662, 28. Spalding 715, 29. Christian Brothers 785, 30. Lee 816, 31. Augusta State 827, 32. Anderson 878, 33. Wingate 903, 34. Bellarmine* 974

*Split Squad

Top Individuals: 1. Oscar Ogwaro, Unattached, 24:44.40; 2. Matt Schiffbauer, Marshall, 24:45.60; 3. Stephane Hetherington, Unttached, 25:01.5; 4. Patrick Liederbach, Detroit Mercy, 25:05.9; 5. David Caldwell, Marshall, 25:13.5.

Bentley Runners: 7. Rob Dextradeur, 25:17.4; 27. John Drago, 25:43.5; 28. Craig Robinson, 25:45.7; 41. Curtis Trueb, 26:00.4; 46. Bryan Sutherland, 26:07.3; 62. Sean Reagan, 26:14.4; 69. Steve Gendron, 26:19.6; 71. Teddy Farley, 26:20.2; 130. Sean Maguire, 26:50.6.