WATERFORD, CONN.— When the lights are brightest, Caleb Silver (5th-year, Conrad, BCLUW HS) shines and did so Saturday with the fastest 8,000-meter time in Central College men's cross country history.
           
Running along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in a field that included eight nationally ranked teams, Silver streaked to first place in a 199-runner field at the Connecticut College Invitational Saturday, winning in 24:13.4. That shatters the mark of 24:27 last year by teammate Noah Jorgenson (senior, Sidney). at the Augustana (Ill.) Interregional Invitational at Rock Island, Illinois Will Kelly of St. Olaf College (Minn.) was second in 24:17.6.
           
Silver, a two-time NCAA Division III meet qualifier who delivered an all-America finish last November, helped propel the No. 26-rated Dutch to third place in the 25-team meet.
           
"He's a gamer, there's no doubt about that," coach Joe Dunham said. He gets onto the big stage and he can put together really good races. Caleb did a really nice job of navigating the race. He ran really smart, got out in position early and then he just kind of went with the runner from St. Olaf. In about the last 600 meters he just made a move and took the win."
           
No.16-rated St. Olaf won the team title with 69, with Tufts University (Mass.) at 69. Central had 128, matching No. 17 Middlebury College (Vt.), while No. 20 New York University had 156 and No. 31 Loras College had 210.
           
Jorgenson was sixth in 24:41.40 while Adam Sylvia (5th-year, Rochester, Mass., Old Rochester HS) also topped his career best, placing 12th in 24:49.2, ranking him 11th on Central's all-time list. His previous best was 25:17. Jack Brown (freshman, Norwalk) was 50th in 25:39.7, William Wadsley (freshman, Gilbert) was 61st in 25:46.5, Derek Webster (junior, Norwalk) was 84th in 26:04.7, smashing his previous best of 26:51, and Donovan Card (freshman, Norwalk) was 92nd in 26:09.8.
           
"Our three-headed monster (Silver, Jorgenson and Sylvia) up front got out in good position early were able to kind of run free," Dunham said. "Having those three come in so quickly was nice and then our chase group did a great job of sticking together, working through the race and navigating all the traffic."
           
Brown's time was 1:12 under his previous season best.
           
"It was great to see Jack put together his race," Dunham said. "We've been waiting for that, we knew it was coming. He's had great workouts so it was really fun to see him put it all together. It's a good shot in the arm for him, confidence-wise."
           
Dunham said that the conditions contributed to the fast times.
           
"We couldn't have asked for a better day," he said.
           
Central is off until playing host to the American Rivers Championships Oct. 28 at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex course. The 8,000-meter men's race starts at 11 a.m. Central was fourth in last year's meet and hasn't finished third or higher since placing second in 2015.
           
"We've got such a competitive league with Wartburg, Simpson, Loras, Luther and a lot of other good teams so we'll have to come ready," Dunham said. "We've got to be on our game."
           
Dunham is hopeful the Dutch will benefit from being on familiar terrain.
           
"We've been on our course quite a bit this season and so we should be ready for that," he said. "We'll spend a little more time on the course over the next two weeks. We know what's coming but we'll be ready."