ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday, November 16, 2002

Etown Wins Mideast Regional For First Time in Program History, Dustin Scott Regional Individual Champion, Etown to Run at NCAA Championships Nov. 23

SALISBURY, Md. --- Saturday was a historic day for the Elizabethtown men's cross country program, as the Blue Jays captured the Mideast Regional championship, hosted by Salisbury University, for the first time in program history. Etown also produced its first Mideast Region individual champion in senior Dustin Scott (Honey Brook, PA/Twin Valley). Also, by finishing in the top three in the region, the Blue Jays have qualified to run as a team at the NCAA Division III Championship meet for the third time in the last four years.

Elizabethtown won the regional title in a field of 34 teams with a score of 45 points, beating out second place Haverford, which finished 32 points behind with 77. The size of the gap separating the teams was rather surprising, since Haverford had defeated Elizabethtown by a margin of four points the only other time the teams met this season, at the Plansky Invitational at Williams (MA) October 19. Haverford is also currently ranked 10th in the nation, while the Blue Jays are 12th. By capturing the regional title this year, Etown became one of very few teams to unseat Haverford from its usual perch atop the Mideast, as the Fords had won 11 of the previous 13 regional championships.

Dustin Scott, Etown's top finisher, not only won the race, but he also did it in record fashion, setting a new 8k course record of 24:55 at Salisbury's Winter Park course. It was the second race in a row Scott had won and the second consecutive course record he had set, as he also won the 2002 Middle Atlantic Conference individual championship in an Elizabethtown course record time of 26:23 November 2. Amazingly, though, it was also only the second cross country race he had ever won in his life.

An Etown runner took second place as well, as sophomore Matt Rockwell (Plymouth, NH/Plymouth Regional) came in with at time of 24:59. A total of six Blue Jays earned All-Mideast Region honors by finishing among the top 35 runners in a field of 241. In addition to Scott and Rockwell, senior Dave Berdan (Dingmans Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley) finished in 11th place in 25:17, sophomore Jose Miranda (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township) placed 14th in 25:18, sophomore Steve Sanko (Hazleton, PA/Bishop Hafey) finished 17th in 25:22, and freshman Greg Wetzel (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks East) placed 18th in 25:25 for the Blue Jays. Senior Mike Zwatty (Dillsburg, PA/Northern) was Etown's number seven finisher in 51st place with a time of 26:22.

Etown will now gear up for the NCAA Division III national championship meet, which will be hosted by St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN Saturday, November 23. There, the Blue Jays will look to improve upon their 14th place finish in last year's national championship meet, and will hope to crack the nation's top ten.

At Salisbury, Md.
NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Meet
Hosted by Salisbury University
Top Ten Team Finishes:
1. Elizabethtown 45; 2. Haverford 77; 3. Allegheny 110; 4. Muhlenberg 115; 5. Widener 135; 6. Carnegie Mellon 183; 7. Dickinson 231; 8. Messiah 246; 9. Susquehanna 270; 10. DeSales 288

Elizabethtown Individual Finishers:
241 Runners-8K Course
1. Dustin Scott, 24:55^*
2. Matt Rockwell 24:59,*
11. Dave Berdan 25:17, *
14. Jose Miranda 27:18, *
17. Steve Sanko 25:22, *
18. Greg Wetzel 25:25, *
51. Mike Zwatty26:22
^ Salisbury course record
* All-Mideast Region team member