BRONX, N.Y. - The Columbia women took home a third place finish while the men claimed fifth at today's Metropolitan Cross Country Championships.

Rutgers was the champion among 14 teams on the women's side with 61 points and an average time of 19:13 in the 5K. The men's race was won by the host, Fordham, who bested the field of nine teams with 27 points in an average time of 26:46 in the 5-mile run.

The women had two top-10 finishers in Victoria Ingram and Sarah Hardie. Ingram finished in sixth at 19:20.5, over a minute off the fast pace set by the champion, Rutgers' Paige Senatore, who clocked an 18:05.2.

Hardie was not far behind Ingram, as the sophomore clocked a 19:30.2 for ninth place. Devon Towell was the next Columbia finisher in 18th place at 19:45.7, while Sydne Segal (24th/19:52.6) and Annie Fanta (26th/20:04.2) rounded out the top-30.

The men had two runners among the top-15 finishers in Dylan Tarpey and Keenan Piper. Tarpey was 10th in 27:00.0 for the 5-mile run, while Piper claimed 13th in 27:07.1. The pair were not far behind the top two finishers from Fordham, Jonathan Annelli (1st/26:28.8) and Michael Turi (2nd/26:36.5).

Ben Ritz and Alek Sauer also had strong outings for the men's team, with Ritz taking 30th place in 27:43.2 and Sauer right behind him in 31st at 27:43.5.

The rest of the Lions will be back in action next weekend, with two meets on deck. On Friday, Oct. 16, Columbia will head to the Adidas Wisconsin Invitational before the Leopard Invitational gets under way the following day at Lafayette.