NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Men's and Women's Cross Country team traveled to Westminster college on Saturday to compete in the Fisher Invitational. The Barons and Lady Barons ran through high temperatures and sticky humidity to place 3rd and 4th respectively. Junior captain Patrick Flanagan and sophomore Kate Porter led the Barons and Lady Barons with solid individual performances.

Flanagan came off of the start in sixth place, hanging back and using a common strategy of letting younger, inexperienced runners burn themselves out during the first mile. Then, just before the second mile marker, Flanagan put on a surge and quickly took the lead, creating significant distance between himself and the second place runner.

"Patrick stepped up," head coach Dan Kuebler said. "He's looking like a strong leader for the team."

Unfortunately, the heat took its toll on Flanagan and he dropped back to third place during the third mile and finished the 8k in fifth place with a time of 29:31.

"He had a strong race," Kuebler said. "It shows guts to take the lead like that."

Kuebler also said the men did particularly well, finishing in third considering they were missing a seventh man in the varsity line-up.

"Not having a seventh man means that nobody can have a letdown," Kuebler said. "We need all of them."

The Barons also saw strong performances from sophomore John Redmond, who out-kicked his closest opponent and crossed the line a mere .2 seconds ahead, and junior Michael McLaughlin, who's twenty-sixth place finish broke the tie between FUS and Waynesburg.

On the women's side, sophomore runner Kate Porter helped carry the Lady Barons. The team had to compete without top runner Molly Chambers and captain Claire Bach who both fell to minor injuries during the race, leaving the Lady Barons without two of their best runners.

Porter stepped up her game to fill the gap. Combined with a strong pack of runners consisting of Anna Brown, Allison Huelseman, Colene Smith, and Kristin Mack, Porter led her team to a strong fourth place finish.

"We had a nice pack on the women's side, but a lot of them are still learning how to run a 6k race." Kuebler said. "Kate, however, is stepping up, into becoming one of the top runners on the team."

The meet wasn't the first action of the season for Franciscan cross country. The school's JV runners traveled to the Wooster Invite on Friday to gain some extra experience.

The Barons and Lady Barons will continue their season at the Seton Hill Invite on September 7.