Men's Results 1-52 - 53-99 - Team Finish |  Women's Results 1-52 - 53-100 - Team Finish

by Caleb McGaughran, GoMessiah.com reporter

Grantham, PA - Messiah's cross country teams had an extremely successful weekend, as the men grabbed first and the women finished second at the annual Messiah Invitational.
 
 "It was a great home course," said Coach Dale Fogelsanger. "We had lots of support from family and alumni and there were great races on both the men's and women's teams."
 
For the women's 6,000 meter race, Jennifer Bender placed third overall as freshman Amanda Asaro of Gettysburg claimed first place. Bender finished with a total time of 23:54.60, a drop of about eight seconds from her previous personal best two seasons ago. Jessica Visneski and Alissa Rogers followed Bender in fifth and sixth place, respectively.
 
Tasha Becker ran well for the Falcons, placing fourth for the team and eleventh overall at a time of 25:40.20. Victoria Scrima finished behind Becker in sixteenth place, racing a personal best time of 25:54.50. Leah Novak also had an excellent race, finishing seventh for the Falcons and twenty-fourth overall at 26:36.90, shaving twenty-two seconds off her previous personal best.
 
 "Our women raced very aggressively today," said Fogelsanger. "This is exactly what we want to start doing when October rolls around."
 
For the men, Messiah's Jared Schatz finished second overall and first out of Division III runners; Patrick Hager of S.W.I.F.T racing grabbing first. Three other Falcons followed Schatz: Cameron Shirk placing third, Nathaniel Pardoe in fourth, and Phil Headland in fifth. Headland  finished with a time of 28:33.40, only ten seconds shy of his personal best time of 28:23.52 from last season.
 
Joel Zeigler raced incredibly well this weekend finishing twenty-second overall in the meet, and seventh for Messiah. Zeigler's finishing time of 29:35.70 was an eight second drop from his personal record set last season. Tyler Sensing also raced well, finishing two places behind Zeigler in twenty-fifth and setting a personal best of 29:40.00.
 
"The men packed well today," said Fogelsanger. "I hope this is a pattern they will continue to adopt as the season progresses."
 
In addition to Messiah's collegiate teams, several alumni of the men's cross country team raced this weekend for S.W.I.F.T racing. Brian and Patrick Hager, who also coach with Messiah Cross Country, both were among S.W.I.F.T's contestants. Patrick placed first overall at 27:26.10 and Brian twenty-fourth.  Among the other alumni were Andrew Springer, who also coaches for the team, and Larry Hannon, who coaches Delaware Valley College's team.
 
The Falcons will return to action on Sept. 28 at the Dickinson Long-Short Invitational at Big Springs High School.

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