(Posted October 1, 2005)

Carlisle, Pa. ? Taking on many of the top teams in the Mid-East Region, the Juniata College men?s and women?s cross country teams showed they certainly can compete against the best as the Juniata women placed fifth among the 24-team field and the men placed ninth among 20 teams. The unusual race format had the women run both a 4K and a 6K with the team score taking the top-three finishers for each team in each race. The men?s scoring was handled the same way, but with the men running a 4K and an 8K.

MEN?S

The Eagles men saw Justin Fritzius (Central York/York) lead the team in the 4K. The Juniata senior posted a time of 13:17 to capture a 44th-place finish in the race. Juniata then had two runners come in just inside the top-60 as Shawn Rumery (Thornton Academy/Dayton, Me.) and Tripp Rudolph (Upper St. Clair/Pittsburgh) placed 57th and 59th respectively. Rumery ran a time of 13:31 for the 4K distance, while Rudolph was right behind him at 13:32. At the 8K distance it was Chris Sheaffer (Central York/York) running the top time as he covered the course in 20:20 which was good for a 21st-place finish. Mike Chirdon (Riverview/Verona) was the second runner for the Juniata men at the longer distance as he placed 68th. His time was 28:37. Mike Vella (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg) capped the top-3 with his 82n-place finish which came as he ran a time of 28:52.

WOMEN?S

The Juniata women got the team off to a strong start in the 4K. Nancy Hayes (Westminster/Westminster, Md.) earned a 10th-place finish in the race with a time of 15:43. Meghan Jones (Meadville/Meadville) was Juniata?s second runner at the shorter distance as she finished 26th with a time of 16:12. Rounding out the top-3 at the 4K distance was Aubrey Cyphert (Seneca/North East) who was the 50th runner in the race. She posted a time of 16:49. In the 6K Katey Glunt (Bellefonte/Bellefonte) notched the top finish for the Juniata women as she posted a time of 23:43 which was good for a 17th-place finish in the longer race. Lia Bella (Morris Catholic/Rockaway, N.J.) crossed the line in 50th position with a time of 25:08 for the Eagles. Rounding out the scoring for the Blue and Gold was Sarah Bay (Central Dauphin/Harrisburg) who earned a 90th-place finish as she covered the course in a time of 25:57. Nearly every Juniata runner who ran the 8K race posted a new personal best time.

The Eagles return to action with an invitational next Saturday at Carnegie Mellon.

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