he Elizabethtown College men’s and women’s cross country teams both competed in the Middle Atlantic Conference Cross Country Championships at DeSales University on Saturday located in Center Valley, Pa. “MACs is always a race that we look forward to as a team because it marks the beginning of championship season and an exciting time for ECXC,” senior Eileen Cody said.
The men’s team was aiming to walk away with five straight conference championships before moving to the Landmark conference.
The men’s team was aiming to walk away with five straight conference championships before moving to the Landmark Conference. However, they took third place to Widener University in first and DeSales University in second on Saturday. Sophomore Zach Trama finished fourth overall with a time of 26:52.12, and sophomore Matt Shenk finished fifth overall with a time of 27:00.63.
Senior Stephen Welsh finished in 27:22.41 taking third for the Blue Jays and 14th overall. Sophomore Sam Cooper finished in 16th place overall with a time of 27:42.44, and junior Dan Gresh finished 19th overall in 27:48.48.
The women’s team accomplished their goal of taking first place and leaving the Middle Atlantic Conference with seven consecutive championship titles. Lebanon Valley College took second place and DeSales University took third place. “We knew going into the race that Lebanon Valley College and DeSales University were going to give us a fight, but we stuck to our team strategies as much as possible, using some pack mentalities, and this definitely worked to our advantage,” senior Eileen Cody said. Senior Traci Tempone took first place for the Blue Jays and second place in the meet overall with a time of 23:10.41, following Kelsey Patrick from Lebanon Valley College, who took first place with a time of 22:16.30.
Senior Megan Tursi finished in third place overall with a time of 23:39.91, junior Amelia Tearnan finished in 23:51.74 taking sixth place overall, and senior Amanda Kerno finished ninth overall with a time of 24:12.60. Cody came in fifth for Etown and 15th overall finishing in 24:41.86. “The breakout performance of the meet came from senior Laurie Jones who fought back from some setbacks earlier this season and finished within the top 20 of the meet,” Cody said. “I was really impressed with how well the team worked together to push each other. We have such an amazing and inspiring group of girls this year, and I’m glad we could win it together,” Tempone said.
The Etown women were the only team to have more than two runners in the top ten, and they also had eight in the top 20. “We are capable of great things as we continue through championship season,” Tempone said. Along with the women taking first place for their last meet in the Middle Atlantic Conference, Head Coach Brian Falk received a well-deserved award for Coach of the Year for the women’s team.
The women are currently ranked fifth in the Mid-east region and will join the men’s team when they compete again on Nov. 16 at the NCAA Division III Mid-east Regional meet.
