Cross country squads crack top six

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By Matt Muncy, October 19, 2009

The men scored 164 points and the women finished with 124 points.

 

The men bested conference opponents Rose-Hulman, Mount St. Joseph, Bluffton, and Hanover. The women beat out Rose-Hulman, Bluffton, Hanover, Transylvania, and Mount St. Joseph.

 

“We are pretty happy with that,” said head coach Paul Sargent. “On the women’s side it was great to see how we would match up.”

 

The men were led by junior Jake Hojnacki who finished ninth, with a career best time of 26:02 and his pace helped the other top seven Grizzlies finish with career-best marks.

 

“Jake did not have to be the number one last year but this year he has had to,” said Sargent.

 

Hojnacki’s time was third best in Franklin College history.

 

Senior Scotch Swango placed 24th with a time of 26:48, sophomore Kinley Weber was 33rd at 27:01, junior Kevin Martin finished 40th with a time of 27:09, freshman Brandon Litz  was 70th at 28:01, sophomore Jay Druba was 85th at 28:14 and freshman Daniel Morris finished 125th with a time of 29:07.

 

The women were led by junior Heather Waterman who finished first among the 244 runners in the event. It was her second win of the season.

 

Her time of 18:38.81 was a career-best and put her among the top three times in Franklin College history.

 

“If you look at her times from last year and this year, she is two minutes faster,” said Sargent.

 

Senior Kristi Brown was 13th with a career-best time of 19:20, sophomore Shannon Egold placed 27th with a mark of 20:10, and junior Carmen Alejo finished 35th with a season-best time of 20:28. Sophomore Holly Hatch was 50th with a career-best time of 20:42, freshman Katie Spellman placed 54th with a time of 20:51, and junior Caitlyn Croan finished 117th with a season-best time of 21:51.

 

The cross country teams have the week off to practice for conference on October 31^st.