The men and women’s cross country teams met their rivals for the Division II NCAA Cross Country Atlantic Regional Championships at Lock Haven University.
The women’s squad placed 12th overall in this 6k run out of 27 teams of 171 runners. This is three places higher than last year’s showing.
Amanda Eisman placed 10th in the field, with a time of 21:32.3, which was the fastest time on this course by a West Chester runner in the past nine years. She missed a trip to the national championships by only two places.
Brittany Boyer came in finishing 34th, with a time of 22:22.3, the fourth fastest time by a West Chester Golden Rams in past nine years. Leigh Manning-Smith ran a time of 23:04.5, placing her 66th in the field. Trish Evans finished 24:00.2, giving her a 99th place finish.
Mara Kelly’s time was 24:23.5; Amber Key, 24:30.4 and Megan Berberich had a time of 24:31.2.
The men’s team had a field of 153 runners in a 10k run. The men placed 11th out of 25 teams, only two points away from 10th place and four places higher than last year’s finish. This was the men’s squad’s highest place finish since 2008.
Placing 52nd in the field was Sean Sebeck with a time of 33:09.9, the second-fastest time on this course in nine years. Zack Mussleman’s time of 33:16.0 57th in the field, making this the third fastest time by a Golden Ram to run this course in the past nine years. Ed Brittingham had a time of 33:33.6 placing him 64th in the field. A running time of 33:43.5 gave Jack Barnett a spot at 70th. Cody Borders ran a time of 33:48.9 right behind Barnett and Jake Siegel’s time of 33.57.0 was the 10th fastest time by a West Chester runner in last nine years.
This season was overall a very successful one in improving individual and team performance. With no runners qualifying for the NCAA Championships in two weeks in Missouri, this concludes the 2012 cross country season here at West Chester.
Kyle Banta is a third-year student majoring in English. He can be reached at KB683859@wcupa.edu.