Men's Cross Country 11/12/2016 5:08:00 PM

Men's cross country takes ninth at Mideast Regional

Men's Mideast Regional 8k Results

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- Fresh off its third consecutive Landmark Conference title, the Elizabethtown College men's cross country team took on the rest of the mideast region Saturday at DeSales. The Blue Jays finished ninth of 52 teams at the 2016 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional. Samuel Gerstenbacher was the top finisher for E-town.

Gerstenbacher, the Landmark Rookie of the Year and All-Landmark First Team performer, ran a season-best for the Jays. His final time was 26:10, good for 42nd in his first regional meet.

Andrew Lesko, who has finished 99th (2014) and 90th (2015) in his two Mideast Regionals, jumped up 41 spots to get inside the top 50 in 2016. Lesko took 49th in 26:22.

Tom Fitzgerald was the third Blue Jay runner to finish the 8,000-meter course at DeSales. The junior took 81st overall in 26:44, just ahead of teammate Ryan Rippeon. A freshman, Rippeon ran to a season-best 8k time of 26:45.

Keegan McDonough rounded out the scoring for Elizabethtown a few spots back of Fitzgerald and Rippeon. McDonough, the Landmark runner-up, was 87th on Saturday in 26:47.

Tyler Alansky ran a personal-best time of 26:51 to take 93rd, his first 8k under 27 minutes in his collegiate career.

Johns Hopkins and Haverford earned the top automatic qualifying spots. Hopkins beat out Haverford by one point for the regional title. Widener's Ernie Pitone was the individual champ at 24:52.

The men's cross country team will await to see if any individuals will qualify for the NCAA Championships to be held next weekend in Louisville, Kentucky.

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Players Mentioned

Tyler Alansky: 6' 5"; Sophomore

Tommy Fitzgerald: 6' 2"; Junior

Andrew Lesko: 6' 2"; Senior

Keegan McDonough: 5' 11"; Senior

Samuel Gerstenbacher: 5' 11"; Freshman

Ryan Rippeon: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Tyler Alansky
: 6' 5"; Sophomore

Tommy Fitzgerald
: 6' 2"; Junior

Andrew Lesko
: 6' 2"; Senior

Keegan McDonough
: 5' 11"; Senior

Samuel Gerstenbacher
: 5' 11"; Freshman

Ryan Rippeon
: Freshman