250NEWARK, N.J. -- Senior Joey Datta (Edison, N.J.) blasted a field of nearly 250 runners, soaring to gold, while senior Alfredo Oidor (Garfield, N.J.) was 33rd and freshman Luke Molyneux (Ocean Township, N.J.) placed 37th as the Caldwell men's cross country turned it a stellar performance heading into the CACC Championships, finishing third of 31 teams at the NJIT Highlandder Challenge at Branch Brook Park.

Datta blitzed the course in a brisk 25:00.12, besting the closest challenger by more than 30 seconds. Oidor (27:11.32), Molyneux (27:18.30), junior Chad Manning (Belleville, N.J.) (41st, 27:41.30), sophomore Logan Kudla (Bloomfield, N.J.) (54th, 28:12.00) and sophomore Alex Jamieson (Portree, Scotland) 69th, 28:39.35) all seem to be peaking at just the right time.

The Cougars' third place standing was second among all Division II squads in the 245-runner field.

Caldwell will be among the favorites at the CACC Championships on Oct. 27 in Philadelphia, as Datta goes for his unprecedented third straight league title and Runner of the Year.