On Friday, Sept. 17, the Elizabethtown College cross country team traveled to Haverford College for the Main Line Invitational where the team competed against seven other schools. The participating schools included Villanova University (Division I), University of Pennsylvania (Division I), La Salle University (Division I), Haverford College (Division III), Swarthmore College (Division III), Widener University (Division III), Muhlenberg College (Division III) and Elizabethtown College (Division III).

The Main Line Invitational has been around for several years, but this year was the first time Etown has been invited to attend. The cross country team’s head coach Brian Falk, “…had been trying to get into this event for 12 years,” junior Matthew Fick said. “It was a big deal.” 

The team was able to attend because another school who was originally scheduled to attend had to withdraw from the event.

“Other than the Division I schools, it was crazy competition…there were also Division III schools from other regions that we typically don’t get to face,” sophomore Grant Kuhn said. “The only other times we will see those teams is if they make nationals.”

The men’s team placed seventh out of the eight teams. Initially this does not sound great at all. However, the team was missing several of their top runners due to illness and injury, and they were running against several Division I schools and very competitive Division III schools. 

“Coach was really happy with our overall performance at the end,” Fick said.

Fick ran the 4-mile and placed 67th overall, but fourth for Etown with a personal best time of 22:06.9. Fick was beaten by senior teammate Colin Elliott who ran a 22:06.6. A mere 0.3seconds faster than Fick. In second place for Etown was senior Adam Wolfe with a 21:48.8 and in first place was senior Christian Shaaf with a 20:37.9.

Etown’s women’s team placed fifth out of seven teams. In the three mile race, senior Hallie Weaver and sophomore Kelty Oaster came in first and second for Etown, respectively.  They finished only two seconds apart at 19:09.9 and 19:11.7. Third and fourth for the women were senior Brooklyne Wiley and junior Madison Webber at 19:46.1 and 19:49.0, respectively.

The next cross country meet is scheduled to take place on Saturday Sept. 25 at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa.