Courtesy: Princeton Athletic Communications Ben Sitler's third-place finish helped the Tigers finished third at the Paul Short Run.

Sophomore Ben Sitler and junior Michael Maag each finished in the top five individually to lead the Princeton men's cross country team to an impressive third-place finish out of 41 teams at Lehigh's Paul Short Run Friday afternoon on the Goodman Campus.

Sitler, also Princeton's top finisher at its season-opening meet at Fordham three weeks ago, easily set a personal 8K best of 24:12 to finish in third place overall. Maag's time of 24:21 was good for fifth place individually in the event.

The Tigers, ranked No. 27 nationally and No. 2 regionally, finished with a team score of 92, just behind second-place Syracuse's 84. Princeton ran without 2006 All-America and senior captain David Nightingale, who is recovering from injury.

Four Tiger runners finished in the top 25 in the event thanks to seniors Justin Pines and Frank Tinney, who finished 20th and 25th respectively on Friday afternoon. Each had impressive times, with Pines finishing the eight kilometers in 24:46 and Tinney just behind in 24:49.

Another senior, Tim O'Neill, gave Princeton all five of its scorers in the top 40 in the meet with a 39th-place time of 25:01.

Princeton combined seven-runner total of 2:03.06 was second only to race winner Villanova, which finished with a score of 50.

All seven Princeton runners finished in the top 70 in the race, which featured 270 total runners. Senior James O'Toole was 60th overall in a time of 25:28, while freshman Dennis Walsh finished 67th overall in a time of 25;32.

The Tiger top seven will run in two weeks at the Pre-Nationals Invitational in Indiana, held on the same course as November's NCAA championship meet. Princeton will also host the Princeton Invitational that day at the cross country course on the West Windsor Fields.