Men’s cross country takes Juniata Invitational title, women finish second
ALTOONA, Pa. – Juniata College senior Matt Bailey (East Petersburg, Pa./Hempfield) finished second overall to lead the Juniata men’s cross country team to a first place finish at its own meet, the 2009 Juniata College Eagle Invitational, Saturday afternoon at Fort Roberdeau Historic Site near Altoona, Pa.
ALTOONA, Pa. – Juniata College senior Matt Bailey (East Petersburg, Pa./Hempfield) finished second overall to lead the Juniata men’s cross country team to a first place finish at its own meet, the 2009 Juniata College Eagle Invitational, Saturday afternoon at Fort Roberdeau Historic Site near Altoona, Pa.
Bailey’s time of 25:27.4 in the 7.5k race was the seventh-fastest men’s time recorded on the course, and helped the Eagles finish atop the six-team field with 39 points.
Trailing Juniata was Hagerstown (Md.) Community College with 46 points, followed by Bridgewater College (Va.) with 58 points, Penn State Altoona with 112 points, a Juniata College alumni team with 114 points, and Pitt-Bradford with 165 points.
Sophomore Nik Klena (Franklin, Pa./Oil City) was sixth with a time of 26:22.7, with Sam Williams (Roaring Spring, Pa./Central) in eighth place with a time of 26:33.5, followed by Ceth Parker (Sabillasville, Md./Catoctin) in ninth with a time of 26:35.0.
Bridgewater’s Jordan White, who remained undefeated this season with a time of 25:17.1, won the men’s race.
On the women’s side, senior Laura Rupprecht (Jefferson, Md./Brunswick) also finished second overall to lead four Juniata runners among the top ten, but the Eagles finished second out of five teams with 47 points.
Saint Vincent College won the team title with 35 points, while Penn State Altoona trailed Juniata in third place with 71 points. Bridgewater was fourth with 76 points, followed by Hagerstown C.C. in fifth with 133 points.
Rupprecht posted a time of 20:20.0 on the 5k course, the 19th fastest women’s time in course history.
Megan McQuillan (Severna Park, Md./Seton Keough) led a contingent of three Juniata runners who finished in eighth through 10th place. McQuillan was eighth with a time of 21:27.7, while Caroline Morgan (Havertown, Pa./Haverford Township) was ninth with a time of 21:28.0. Anne Wakabayashi (El Cajon, Calif./Academy of Our Lady of Peace) was 10th, posting a time of 21:29.2.
Juniata’s final scoring runner in the women’s race was Megan Peterson (Canton, Pa./Canton), who was 25th with a time of 22:38.1.
Saint Vincent’s Ivette Mejia won the women’s race with a time of 19:50.3.
Juniata competes next Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Gettysburg Invitational.