Men's Cross Country 10/28/2017 5:17:00 PM

CHAMPIONS! Gerstenbacher leads men's cross country to fourth consecutive crown

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Last year's Rookie of the Year for the Landmark Conference, Samuel Gerstenbacher took it one step higher on Saturday for the Elizabethtown College men's cross country team. Gerstenbacher became the third different individual Landmark champion for the Blue Jays to help the men's team to its fourth consecutive conference crown. Gerstenbacher was named the Performer of the Year.

Elizabethtown's title did not come so easily, however. Though the top three scorers for the Jays were among the first five finishers, Juniata had four in the top eight.

By race's end, E-town and Juniata each had 38 points, forcing the championship to be decided by the tiebreaker. The tie was broken by comparing in order the place finish of the five scoring members of the tied teams. The team with the majority of winning comparisons is awarded the higher place.

Gerstenbacher and teammate Tyler Alansky were a second apart at the finish, with the sophomore taking the individual title and Alansky the runner-up position. Gerstenbacher's winning time was 27:27.23. Alansky finished in 27:28.71.

Greg Jaindl of Moravian placed third. Juniata's top runner on the day was Peter D'Amico, who took fourth. Ryan Rippeon followed him in at 27:36.25.

The Eagles made it interesting as places six through eight were all Juniata runners.

Tommy Fitzgerald earned All-Landmark Second team with an 11th-place run. Liam Coverdale was the final scorer for the Blue Jays in 19th place.

Juniata's final scoring member was 13th.

Elizabethtown's final scoring line was 1, 2, 5, 11, 19. Juniata ended up with 4, 6, 7, 8, 13. By rule, E-town's 1, 2, and 5 were better in comparison to the first three for the Eagles, to give the Jays the majority of the winning comparisons and the team championship.

Juniata's coach, Jon Cutright, was named the Men's Coach of the Year. Jack Patwell from Scranton earned the Rookie of the Year.

Elizabethtown will prepare for the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional on Saturday, November 11 at Big Spring High School.

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Players Mentioned

Tyler Alansky: 6' 6"; Junior

Liam Coverdale: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Tommy Fitzgerald: 6' 2"; Senior

Samuel Gerstenbacher: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Ryan Rippeon: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Tyler Alansky
: 6' 6"; Junior

Liam Coverdale
: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Tommy Fitzgerald
: 6' 2"; Senior

Samuel Gerstenbacher
: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Ryan Rippeon
: 6' 2"; Sophomore