SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Franciscan freshmen class once again led the men's and women's cross country teams to a strong finish as the Lady Barons finished 15th and the Barons 13th at the National Catholic Invitational, hosted by Notre Dame.
Prior to the race, the Franciscan cross country teams had a chance to meet up with its sister school, Saint Francis (Pa.). Before the teams competed, team chaplain Fr. Gregory, prayed with and spoke to both schools. Last season, Saint Francis reached out the Barons before their conference meet and the two teams were able to reconnect Friday afternoon.
On the women's side, reigning AMCC Runner of the Week and ECAC Rookie of the Week, Emily Theurer led the pack of Franciscan runners with an impressive time of 19:59.5 in the 5K race. For the third week in a row, Theurer was the Lady Barons' top runner.
Theurer was followed closely behind by sophomore Deirdre Coyle, who posted a 58th place showing among DIII runners with a time of 20:04.6. The Cherry Valley, Ill. native ran a strong race at a 6:27.3 mile pace.
Freshman Angela Penza was the third Lady Baron to cross the finish line as she took 105th overall with a time of 21:25.3.
Junior Lauren Schubilske was the fourth FUS runner to cross the line at 22:04.9 while classmateTherese Thomason was not far behind at 22:49.7.
The trio if sophomore Francesca Santos, senior Jennifer Gray and junior Jennifer Sullivan round out the scoring for the Lady Barons as they finished within seconds of each other. Santos was first across the line at 23:34.7, followed by Gray at 23:35.4 and Sullivan at 23:36.1
On the men's side, it was Joe Gallagher who took top billing for the Barons. Gallagher posted a 44thplace finish among the DIII runners with a time of 27:22.6, his fastest time of his college career.
Freshman Grady Stuckman also posted a personal-best time with a time of 28:50.0 to take 72nd. Sophomore Tim Jackson and senior John Redmond took 81st and 82nd, respectively, with a pair of season-bests as well. Jackson crossed the line at 29:19.2 and Redmond came in at 29:13.0.
Freshman Nick Long took 87th with a time of 29:17.3 in his second collegiate meet while sophomore Graham Martin clocked in at 29:18.7 in his first race of the season for the Barons. Junior Emmett Delaney rounded out the scoring runners for the Barons with a time of 30:57.8 to take 118th place.
With several runners hitting PRs, the coaching staff was happy with the performance of the Franciscan cross country teams. "Even though we had a cool and overcast evening, there was a heavy humidity," remarked assistant coach Shaun McKeegan. "The humidity really factored in to times this evening and we are extremely impressed with this team as they were still able to hit many PRs."
Franciscan returns to action next week when the Barons host the Franciscan Invitational on Saturday, September 26.
