OBERLIN, Ohio— Franciscan University's cross country teams competed Saturday morning in the Inter-Regional Rumble hosted by Oberlin College. It was a strong finish for both the men and the women, as Bill Jones led the Barons to 22nd place out 34 for the 8K and Nicole Krajewski led the Lady Barons to a 16th out of 33 in the 6K.
The Barons finished with a team total of 563 points. The Lady Barons earned a team total of 458.
The men finished five places before one of their major rivaling teams, Penn State Behrend, who finished with a total of 739 points in 27th place. The Lady Barons came in three places before the Lady Lions who finished in 19th place.
Head coach Daniel Kuebler noted that this was a good sign for the approaching Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championship and also at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Great Lakes Regional Meet in the next few weeks.
"Finishing that well before Penn St. Behrend is a good confidence booster for everyone," he said.
In recent years, the Behrend Lions frequently finished right after or right before Franciscan's men's and women's teams, making Behrend top competition for Franciscan.
Bill Jones led the Barons on the day, finishing first overall in a race totaling 315 male competitors with a time of 25:23. Following Jones was Joey Schlueter in 115th place (27:40). Kevin LeRoy was close to Schlueter, finishing in 119th place and only a second behind (27:41). Jack Kaiser came in 173rd place (28:18), and Marcus Fluty came in at 196th place (28:32).
Sophomore Nicole Krajewski led the women's team, finishing in fifth place overall out of a total of 282 female runners. Krajewski finished the 6K with an impressive time of 22:35. Next for the Lady Barons was team captain Theresa Evans in 54th place overall (23:52), followed by Sara Mueller in 112th place (24:56). Molly Chambers came in next for the women in 145th place (25:34).
The cross country team competes next at the AMCC Championship on Saturday, Oct. 29, in Grand Island, New York.
