ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday, October 26, 2002

Etown "B" Teams Make Strong Showings at Gettysburg Invitational

GETTYSBURG, Pa. --- In a highly unusual move, both Elizabethtown's men's and women's cross country teams split their "B" squads among both the varsity and junior varsity races at the Gettysburg Invitational Saturday. This was done while the Blue Jays rested their top runners for next Saturday's Middle Atlantic Conference Championships. Even without their top runners, the Etown entrants from the men's "B" team managed to place fourth out of 34 schools in the men's varsity race at Gettysburg, and an Etown runner won the men's junior varsity race, although the Blue Jays did not field enough runners in that race to score team points. The runners from Etown were impressive in the women's races as well, placing 16th out of 30 in the varsity race and 7th out of 11 in the JV race. In all, the team scores and individual results spoke volumes about the depth of Etown's program.

In the men's varsity race, Etown got an encouraging sign from senior Dave Berdan (Dingmans Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley), who has been struggling with injuries all season. Berdan was Etown's top runner in the Gettysburg varsity race, finishing fourth overall out of 241 runners in a time of 26:38 over the 8000m course. This result could bode very well for Etown down the stretch at the MAC Championships, Regionals, and Nationals, as the Blue Jays have had to fare either without Berdan, the 2001 individual MAC cross country champion, for much of the season, or have had him racing at diminished strength.

Etown's other top ten finisher in the men's varsity race was Greg Wetzel (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks East). He placed eighth with a time of 26:46.47.

Etown sophomore Matt Miller (Macungie, PA/Emmaus) won the men's JV race in a time of 28:42 over the 8000m course in a 64-runner field. It was only the second cross country race victory of Miller's lifetime, who had won one dual meet in high school. The Blue Jays did not score any points in that race, as they only entered two runners.

Freshman Taryn Barker (Manchester, MD/North Carroll) was Etown's top finisher in the women's varsity race, placing 70th in a field of 218 runners in a time of 21:31 on the 5000m course. It was actually the first race of Barker's collegiate career. The top finisher in the women's JV race for Etown was freshman Jess Lind (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West), who finished 25th in a field of 120 runners with a time of 22:42.

Etown will return to action as the host of the 2002 Middle Atlantic Conference Championships Saturday, November 2, to be held at Lancaster County Central Park in Lancaster, PA. The starting gun for the men's race will be at 11:00 a.m., with the women's race to follow at 12:00 p.m.

At Gettysburg, Pa.
2002 Gettysburg Invitational

Men's 8000m Varsity Race, 241 runners, 34 teams:
Top 10 Team Scores: 1. Wheeling Jesuit 64; 2. Carnegie Mellon 78; 3. Shawnee State 112; 4. Elizabethtown "B" 114; 5. Mary Washington 165; 6. Salisbury 194; 7. Messiah 242; 8. West Virginia Wesleyan 292; 9. Loyola 296; 10. California-Pa. 303.
Etown Finishers: 4. Dave Berdan 26:38; 8. Greg Wetzel 26:47; 16. Nate Moore 27:06; 24. Mike Zwatty 27:21; 66. Chris Williams 28:18; 144. Keith Greenawalt 29:53.
Men's 8000m Junior Varsity Race, 64 runners, Etown no team score:
Etown Finishers: 1. Matt Miller 28:42; 22. Nick Patterson 30:21.
Women's 5000m Varsity Race, 218 runners, 30 teams:
Etown Score: 16th place, 422 pts.
Etown Finishers: 70. Taryn Barker 21:31; 85. Jill Brobst 21:50; 87. Maggie Martin 21:51; 93. Liz Heppard 21:59; 125. Kim Whalen 22:44; 133. Kelly Harris 22:52
Women's 5000m Junior Varisty Race, 120 runners, 11 teams:
Etown Score: 7th place, 204 pts.
Etown Finishers: 25. Jess Lind 22:42; 30. Sarah Rever 22:56; 50. Rachel Vogt 23:32; 90. Alexa Harding 25:35; 104. Heather Wolf 27:12