By Nicole Hauck, Staff Writer
The Landmark Conference Cross Country Championship were held Saturday, Oct. 27 at Elizabethtown College. The men’s team came in fifth place out of the eight teams competing, while the women’s team came in sixth place out of seven teams.
“Both teams ran hard in adverse conditions. It was great having two women make the all-conference team and having senior Ciarian Fisher making first team for the men was the highlight of the day for sure,” head coach Ethan Senecal said.
Fisher earned sixth place this year and freshman Jack Warehime had a solid showing, coming in 18th place as a first-year runner. Fisher set the River Hawks pace with a time of 26:34.15 and Warehime recorded a time of 27:27.68.
Sophomore Jake Menchey finished with a time of 28:59.39 and freshman John Sabella clocked a 29:26.13 run.
Freshman Max Oswald (29:35.13), senior Kaleb Waiwada (29:54.12), junior Brandon Sorge (30:33.37), and sophomore Lenny Bolinsky (31:01.29) recorded good times for the River Hawks.
“Despite the terrible race conditions we had at the championship meet, I thought everyone on the team did a fantastic job,” Fisher said. “I’m thrilled for how the team performed this past weekend overall. We had a lot of people ran their personal best during these terrible racing conditions and that’s all you can ask for.”
The female team came in sixth place this weekend.
Reese recorded an eighth place finish at the Landmark Conference Championship. Sophomore Marissa Kleman was the next River Hawk to finish in 13th place. Reese had completed the race ahead of 72 other competitors with a time of 23:39.17. This is averaging about a 6:20.7 pace per mile. Kleman came in shortly behind Reese with a time of 24:02.67.
In addition to Reese and Kleman, junior Alexa Pietrini had a time of 25:35.41 and junior Emily Eck recorded a 26:25.35. Junior Katherine Mayer finished with a time of 26:48.85 and senior Kirsten Hatton recorded a 28:11.97 finish.
“Both teams have worked very hard all season and dealt with a lot of changes with an entirely new coaching staff and training philosophy,” Senecal said. “I am extremely proud of our program and look forward to seeing how we will perform at the following race.”
Both teams will be seen next at the NCAA Mid-East Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 10 at DeSales University.