ERIE, Pa. – Franciscan's track & field team's four captains had their best meet of the year while leading FUS to runner-up finishes for both the men and women at the Behrend Invitational at Penn St.-Behrend.

The meet was the last of the season for FUS, and while the teams aren't in a conference, the Behrend Invitational features many of the school's that are also members of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. Finishing second at the meet against their peer schools gives a validation for what was already a good FUS season.

"Sometimes we go to these big invitationals and you look at the programs we're running against  as what we eventually want to be, but this meet was a great way to look at where we are right now," head coach Rob Copeland said. "It shows that we can compete with our similar schools and it's a great way to go into next season."

While the overall results may be a sign for the future, two of the team's senior captains put in career performances in their last meet as college runners. First was senior distance runner Matthew Howder who reached a season long goal of running 1500 in under six minutes. The senior ran a personal best 5:51.77.

"As a senior and as a captain, it was really nice to see him go out and end his career like that," Copeland said. "It's a testament to his willingness to show up and work hard. You get out of this what you put into it and he is a prime example of that."

The senior captain on the women's side, Allison Huelseman was one of three Lady Barons to finish in the top five of the 1500, finishing behind teammates Sydney Novak and Deirdre Coyle while running a time of 5:33.57. She also ran the 5k, not to set a new personal record but to run with and help teammate Jennifer Gray.

"Not only has Allison exceeded expectations in her performance but she's also exceeded expectations in the things she does for the team," Copeland said. "It's things like running with a teammate or hosting pasta dinners that in the long run will make differences in the program."

The other women's captain, sophomore Susanna Almeida, shone in both individual and team events. The sprinter won the 400m with a time of 1:03.50 and took second in the 200m with a time of 29.15. She also ran the first leg of the team's first place 4x400 relay team that ran a time of 4:49.86. It was the first time all year that Franciscan's 400 runners, Almeida, Kelly Limmina, Rose Thompson, and Sophia Cantu were healthy enough to run the event.

"We've been so banged up, and even when we have been healthy, we've had girls just coming off of injuries and weren't too anxious to throw them into the relay," Copeland said. "We figured it's the last meet of the year, so we gave it a shot and it gave us some important points today."

The fourth captain for FUS is thrower Brian Tullier who finished in fourth in the shot put with a throw of 12.30m. The junior, who was the top thrower for the team over the past two years, has had to take a secondary role to freshman Brad Montgomery who is less than a meter from qualifying for the ECAC regional finals.

"The biggest thing about Brian is that this year, as Brad has risen to the top, Brad's biggest fan and biggest supporter has been Brian," Copeland said. "And at the same time, Brian has proved himself at every meet. He often gets to practices before the coaches and starts on his own. He loves the sport, loves the games, and loves his teammates."

While none of them are team captains, three Baron sprinters put in an impressive performance in the 400m, finishing first, second, and third in the event. The three runners were sophomore David Byers with a time of 53.72, freshman Carlo Fabian with a time of 55.03, and freshman Anthony Lee with a time of 58.61.

While the season is over for the team as a whole, Copeland said that Montgomery might throw at a meet at Allegheny College in hopes of reaching the ECAC qualifying distance.