WESTMINSTER, Pa. –The Franciscan women's cross country team started the year with a strong showing at the Fisher Invitational after finishing fifth out of 10 teams. Four of the Lady Barons' top seven runners competed in their first collegiate race.
Freshman Emily Theurer impressed her coaches with a strong first meet for the Lady Barons.
"It was really great to see Emily come out and run a strong race in her first time out," remarked head coach Dr. Dan Kuebler on Theurer's race.
Theurer took 10th overall with a time of 24.50.54.
Running along with Theurer for most of the race was sophomore Diedre Coyle. Taking 12th place overall, Coyle finished the first race of the season at 24:55.12.
The next three runners for Franciscan all competed in their first race at the collegiate level and helped FUS to beat one of the top teams in the conference, Penn State Altoona. Freshmen Angela Penza (25:53.20), Therese Thomason (27:28.20) and junior Ashley Steffes (28:18.96) finished 23rd, 36th, and 45th, respectively, for Franciscan.
"They all ran really well today, I am extremely happy with how the team ran," continued coach Kuebler. "We ran against two of the top teams in the conference and beat one of them. Overall, we are in good shape. This early season success with so many new runners is a good showing of our ability to compete."
Sophomore Francesca Santos took 47th overall as she crossed the finish line at 28.22.96 while senior Jenni Gray rounded out the Lady Barons' top seven with a time of 28:40.46 to finish 48th overall. The top-seven placement for Gray was her first scoring race of her four-year career with FUS.
"She ran a really strong race and has been improving year-to-year," Kuebler said. "It was her first time in the top seven and is great for her as a senior to reach that in her first race of the year."
Kuebler continued, "As a whole, we looked stronger and better than we were last year. There still is a lot of learning left for the runners, but it was good to see how well they ran their first race."
Unfortunately on the men's side, the race was canceled due to rain and lightning.
The Franciscan cross country teams travel to Bethany, W. Va. September 12 to compete in the Bison Invitational at 10:30 am.
