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`The 2009 men’s and women’s cross country teams are nearing the finish line as they approach the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships.
The women’s team has been dominating, while the men’s team is close behind. The Millersville University Cross Country team has certainly made their appearance known this season.
At the Mountaineer Flatland Invitational, the Lady Marauders took second out of eight teams. Senior Pricilla Jennings took first at the race, out running the other envious teams. Jennings had an 18 second lead on the second place runner, finishing in 21:12.90. Redshirt freshman Elicia Anderson also was a top runner for Millersville, placing ninth in a time of 22:38. Emily Francisco, Brittany Arnold, and Samantha Mulvey took the last three spots of the top 20 for a stong finish from the Lady Marauders.
The men finished fifth of six at the Mountaineer Flatland Invitational. Junior Jeff Rafach placed twenty-first in a time of 33:52.10, giving Millersville their push to finish fifth overall. Freshman Connor Verses stayed close behind, finishing twenty-seventh overall with a time of 34:37.70.
At the Paul Short Invitational, both teams finished strong. The women came together for an eighth place finish out of 39 teams. Redshirt freshman, Anderson led the Marauders, finishing thirty-eigth of 338 runners in a time of 22:38.
The men ran strong as well, finishing sixth place out of the 29 teams. Rafach lead the team, crossing the finish line, twenty-first in a time of 26:41 on a 10K course.
Once again, the women proved strong at the Blue and Gold Cross Country Meet in Newark, Delaware. Jennings took first place at the meet. Jennings also broke the 5K course record with a time of 17:51.53 on a 5K course. Pricilla Jennings outran the runner- up by a total of 39 seconds. The Marauders finished fourth out of 14 teams. Anderson finished twenty-sixth with a time of 20:04.
The men stayed close behind as they finished the Blue and Gold Cross Country meet fifth out of 14 teams. Freshman Conor Veres placed 40th overall with a time of 27:44.06. Freshman Tim Stauring finished close behind at fortieth place and Ben Morrison just made the top fifty, finishing forty-ninth overall.
Unfortunately, at the Battle for the Buggy, the men’s and women’s Marauder cross country teams did not finish. Getting close to PSAC championship time, Coach Adam Young wants his runners to rest up and mend. “We decided to rest many of our top athletes this past weekend so that they could be ready for the PSAC Championship at Edinboro next Saturday. A couple of athletes also got sick or injured and unfortunately as a result we were not able to team score on either side. Our top seven athletes on both teams should be ready for the PSAC meet,” Coach Young said.
We should expect a good turnout from our Marauder cross country team as they head into the final leg of their 2009 season. “I expect the women’s team will battling for a top three finish. It should be a very interesting race and will set the stage for who the top teams will be at the Atlantic Regional the following week,” Coach Young said.
This year is more of a building year for the young men’s team. With only two seniors and four juniors, we can look for much more in the upcoming seasons from this team. “We would like to be in the top 10 but as stated it is a bit of a building year for us. I think if we have a great day at the conference meet or regional meet it would be possible for us to place as high as eighth,” Coach Young of the men’s team explained.
The Marauder’s will race their hearts out at the PSAC championships on October 31 in Edinboro, Pa.