Cross country teams finish third at Landmark Championships

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Juniata College men’s and women’s cross country teams each finished third out of eight teams, at Saturday’s Landmark Conference Cross Country Championships hosted by Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Senior Laura Rupprecht (Jefferson, Md./Brunswick) finished second overall in the women’s 6k race, posting a time of 24:29.  Sophomore Jessica Koenig (Milford, Pa./Delaware Valley) also finished among the top ten, crossing in a time of 25:28.

After Rupprecht and Koenig, the next two Juniata runners to cross the finish line were Megan McQuillan (Severna Park, Md./Seton Keough) in 21^st position with a time of 26:25, followed newcomer Caroline Morgan (Havertown, Pa./Haverford Township) in 22^nd place with a time of 26:28.

Anne Wakabayashi (El Cajon, Calif./Academy of Our Lady of Peace) rounded out the list of scoring runners for Juniata, finishing 29^th in a time of 27:04.

Juniata tallied 82 points to finish third, trailing second place Susquehanna University with 48 points. The University of Scranton claimed the championship with 41 points, with four of its top five runners finishing in the top ten.

In the men’s race, Juniata’s lone top ten finisher was senior Matt Bailey (East Petersburg, Pa./Hempfield) in fourth place with a time of 27:24 in the 8k race. Sophomore Nik Klena (Franklin, Pa./Oil City) was 13^th overall with a time of 28:17, trailed by Sam Williams (Roaring Spring, Pa./Central) in 19^th place with a time of 28:56.

Ceth Parker (Sabillasville, Md./Catoctin) was 23^rd overall and fourth among Juniata finishers with a time of 29:06, while Kevin Donahue (Sandy Hook, Conn./Newtown) crossed the line in 26^th place with a time of 29:19.

Juniata’s 83 points in the men’s championship left them seven points behind second-place Moravian College with 76 points. Susquehanna University won the men’s Landmark Championship with 24 points, placing all five of their scoring runners among the top ten.

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