HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's cross country team, ranked fourth in the nation among Division III schools, kicked its season off with a strong showing Thursday afternoon at the Mainline Invitational hosted by the Fords.

Villanova runners raced to the top three spots but seniors Joseph Carpenter and Anders Hulleberg crossed in fourth and fifth place, respectively, with teammates Jordan Schilit and Eric Arnold not far behind.

Carpenter's time of 20 minutes, 1.46 seconds trailed the winning time of Villanova's Carl Mackenzie (19:53.13) by only eight seconds.

Hulleberg posted a time of 20:06.24 and Schilit, a sophomore who led the front trio of Fords for approximately three of the race's four miles, was seventh with a clocking of 20:15.49.

Haverford junior Eric Arnold (20:18.07) was ninth and senior Chris Southwick (13th, 20:36.57) rounded out the top five runners for the Fords.

The Fords will have eight days before their next competition at the Brooks-Paul Short Run — one of the largest collegiate meets on the East Coast with top Division I, II and III schools attending – in Bethlehem, Pa., hosted by Lehigh University on Friday, October 1.