The Elizabethtown College men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Geneseo Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 4.
The women’s team placed fifth in a field of 19 teams, their best finish of the season thus far, with a point total of 146. Individually, senior Amelia Tearnan was Elizabethtown’s top finisher with a 22:28.8 6k time, placing her at 19th. Additionally, fifth-year Amanda Kerno and Junior Lydia Dearie were the Jays’ second and third-best runners with times of 22:38.3 and 22:41.6, respectively. Kerno’s time earned her a 23rd place finish.
Sophomore runner Ryan Schubert gave some insight into the men’s team’s fifth place finish. “We had our best race of the season,” Schubert said.
The team averaged 26 minutes for 8000 meters, scoring 168 points. Junior Zach Trama led the team with 25:28 to earn himself 13th place, and not far behind him was senior Dan Gresh with 25:35 to place him at twenty-fifth in the field. Junior Sam Cooper, sophomore Ryan Conway, sophomore Jon Anderson, sophomore Keegan McDonough and sophomore Andrew Lesko rounded out their top seven. Schubert expressed the team’s concern over the uncertainty about the weather. However, he said it ended up being “perfect racing weather.”
Only two meets remain on the schedule for the Blue Jays, the Princeton Invitational this Saturday, and the Lebanon Valley College JV Meet on Oct. 24 before they run in the Landmark Conference Championships at the start of November.
“We’ll be going up against some pretty good teams such as Susquehanna and Juniata,” Schubert said. “But there is no reason we can’t walk away with a win.” These recent performances bode well for the team, as they look to compete, succeed and hopefully lift a Landmark Conference title.
“Coach has really just been focusing on making sure we are all training hard and staying motivated,” Schubert said. “We all really want to make a big impression during our first season in the new conference and he is doing his best to make sure we are in top shape for our races.” Coach Brian Falk is known for demanding the best from his athletes and his coaching style seems to have rubbed off on these Blue Jay runners. “We’ve been doing two-a-days now which are new, and they have really helped us get in better shape earlier in the season than we normally would,” Falk said.
The Landmark Conference named Tearnan Athlete of the Week for the second time this season. Tearnan is the first Blue Jay athlete to be named Athlete of the Week for the Conference multiple times. In early September, Tearnan earned the Athlete of the Week title after a ninth place finish at Shippensburg University.
