ATTLEBORO, Mass.—First-year Nick Yacoub (Sharon, Mass.) crossed the finish line in third place among 98 runners to lead the Babson College men's cross country team to a fifth-place finish at the 10th Annual Wheaton & Babson Season Opener on Saturday morning at Highland Park. 

The Beavers totaled 117 points to finish fifth behind fourth-place Bridgewater State (107) and ahead of sixth-place Suffolk (138). Holy Cross (32) won the nine-team event with Stonehill (85) and Brandeis (94) rounding out the top three.

Yacoub made his collegiate debut with a time of 15:55 in the 5K race, finishing only seconds behind race winner sophomore Joseph Mahon (15:49) and runner-up Joseph Ryan (15:54), both of Holy Cross. First-year Daniel Garcia (Miami, Fla.) was the next Babson runner across the line in 19th place in 16:39 and sophomore Brian Gall (Norwalk, Conn.) finished 22nd in 16:43.

First-year Sam Zabbo (Warwick, R.I.) had a solid collegiate debut, finishing 35th in a time of 16:52, and sophomore John Hanscom (Hadley, Mass.) came in 45th in 17:11. Rounding out the finishers for the Green and White was sophomore Jack Gramer (Tyngsborough, Mass.) in 62nd in 18:17.

Babson returns to action at the Annual UMass Dartmouth Invitational in North Dartmouth, Mass. on September 21.