STEUBENVILLE, Ohio - Both the men's and women's cross country teams ran to first-place finishes in the second-annual Franciscan Invite, bringing their top game to the only home meet they will have this semester.

The Franciscan course is a tough one, with many challenging hills for any cross country team. However, it posed no threat to the Franciscan runners who had already practiced on it and knew how difficult it was.

"They know the course, they know how hilly it is, so they all went out with good control," head coach Daniel Kuebler said.

Leading the pack on the women's team was freshman Emily Theurer with first place overall, followed closely by Lauren Schubilske, who took fifth. Other notable runners were Francesca Santos, Jenni Gray and Hana Reichert, who placed ninth, 12th and 14th, respectively.

On the men's side, five out of the top seven runners were Barons. Graham Martin took first place overall, trailed by Joe Gallagher, Nick Long, Tim Jackson and Grady Stuckman, who placed second, fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively.

"The freshmen are leading the way the first few meets and basically making the upperclassmen work a little harder to keep up. Joe, Grady and Nick are three freshmen that have been some of our top runners so far this year and have really been pushing our returning runners," Kuebler commented.

In addition to this strong showing of new runners, the team welcomed back Martin, who had been out with an injury for a few weeks. Graham has historically been Franciscan's top runner, a reputation he validated this meet by placing first out of all competing runners.

The next meet is the CMU Invite, and will be held in Pittsburgh, Pa. on October 10.