ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday, November 23, 2002

Etown Finishes 15th in Nation in NCAA Division III Championship Meet

NORTHFIELD, Minn. --- Elizabethtown finished 15th in the nation with a score of 383 at the 2002 NCAA Division III Championship Meet, held Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. It was the third time in the past four years the Blue Jays competed at the 24-team strong national championship. For the first time, Etown was the top finisher at the NCAA championship among the teams representing the Mideast Region, as the other two Mideast teams, Haverford and Allegheny, finished 19th and 24th, respectively.

Etown's top runner in the race was senior Dave Berdan (Dingman's Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley), who placed 44th overall in the 215-runner field with a time of 25:56 over the 8k course. He also finished 29th among runners participating in the meet as a part of a team. It was an especially sweet accomplishment for Berdan, who sat out the start of the season with injuries and continued to struggle through injury at limited strength for almost the entire season. Saturday's finish was the first time this season he paced Etown's varsity squad after being the team's top runner for most of 2000 and 2001. He missed earning All-American honors Saturday by nine places.

Sophomore Steve Sanko (Hazleton, PA/Bishop Hafey) was Etown's number two finisher, coming in at 75th place overall and 51st among runners on teams in 26:12. Senior and 2001 All-American Dustin Scott (Honey Brook, PA/Twin Valley) was Etown's number three finisher in 114th place overall and 84th among runners on teams with a time of 26:31. Etown's fourth finisher was sophomore Matt Rockwell (Plymouth, NH/Plymouth Regional), who ran the course in 26:49 and finished 139th overall and 105th among runners on teams.

In fifth place for Elizabethtown was junior Josh Lyman (Parkside, PA/Sun Valley), who finished in 26:58 for 152nd place overall and 114th among runners on teams. Classmate Sean Mulcahy (Towanda, PA/Towanda) came in sixth for Etown with a 170th place finish overall in 27:14, while sophomore Jose Miranda (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township) was Etown's number seven runner in 183rd place overall with a time of 27:29.

Wisconsin-Oshkosh won the national title with a score of 66 points, beating out second-place Calvin College by a 56 point margin.

At Northfield, Minn.
NCAA Division III Championship Meet
Hosted by St. Olaf College
Team Finishes:
1. Wisconsin-Oshkosh 66; 2. Calvin 122; 3. North Central 146; 4. Nebraska Wesleyan 178; 5. Willamette 190; 6. Wisconsin-La Crosse 231; 7. Williams 256; 8. Bowdoin 267; 9. College of New Jersey 289; 10. Wartburg 302; 11. Wisconsin-Stevens Point 336; 12. Keene State 341; 13. Claremont-Mudd-Scrips 351; 14. Mount Union 355; 15. Elizabethtown 383; 16. St. Lawrence 397; 17. Ithaca 399; 18. St. Thomas 417; 19. Haverford 420; 20. Connecticut College 453; 21. St. Olaf 462; 22. Puget Sound 485; 23. Emory 487; 24. Allegheny 514

Elizabethtown Individual Finishers:
215 Runners-8K Course
44. (29) Dave Berdan 25:56
75. (51) Steve Sanko 26:12
114. (84) Dustin Scott 26:31
139. (105) Matt Rockwell 26:49
152. (114) Josh Lyman 26:58
170. (127) Sean Mulcahy 27:14
183. (139) Jose Miranda 27:29
(top 35 overall earn All-America status)