Melita placed third out of 124 runners and was the top Empire 8 finisher at the Hamilton College Short Course Invitational on Saturday in a time of 15:33.2 over the 5,000-meter course. He averaged a 5:00.4 mile time for the event, outlasting 2022 All-E8 first team selections Nathan Bowers of Nazareth and Caleb Kasper of Houghton by two and five seconds, respectively. It is Melita’s second straight E8 weekly honor.