New Market, Va.- The Saint Francis cross country teams, despite threatening war clouds, performed excellently at the James Madison Invitational held at the New Market Battlefield. The men's squadron placed first with 18 points and the women's team earned second with 36 points. The men's course was 7,950m (4.94 miles) and the women's course was 5,240m (3.26 miles).

Coach Hoover's Thoughts
"We wanted to be assertive today and both teams did that. I'm very proud of how we raced and happy with where we are at this point of the season. That said, we have a lot of progress to make over the next couple of months."

Men's Overview
Six Saint Francis runners finished in the top ten. Freshmen Brenden Miller (Millersburg, Pa./Upper Dauphin), coming off his NEC Rookie of the Week performance at the Father Bede Invitational, claimed first place with a time of 26:19. Miller claimed his first collegiate win in convincing fashion as he responded quickly to a move moved in the middle of the race by an unattached athlete. Syracuse transfer Griffin Molino (South Williamsport, Pa./South Williamsport) raced into second place a mere three seconds before the fast frosh as he hung with Miller in the middle of the race and then held off a late charge by a VMI runner.
Senior Jeremie Venne (Ottawa, Ontario/Franco-Cite) placed fourth completing the course in 26:33 once again finishing as the third runner for SFU. Sophomore Ian Gabig (Camp Hill, Pa./Camp Hill) did not replicate his first place finish in the Father Bede Invitational but his sixth place finish (26:59) played a pivotal role in the Red Flash victory. Zack White (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) topped off the SFU scorers by placing seventh (27:13). Ian Lauver (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) had his best race ever for SFU as he finished the number six man for Saint Francis.
The men's team has now won two meets in a row.

Women's Overview
Four Red Flash runners finished in the top ten. Hannah Dorian (Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop), once again, led the way for the Saint Francis women. Dorian finished two seconds (19:45) behind the leading runner narrowly missing out on winning her second straight race. Sophomore Madison Wright (Eaton, Ohio/Twin Valley South) finished fifth (19:57). Both Dorian and Wright pushed the pace of the race and secured top five finishes against the defending ECAC champions of James Madison.
Catie Jaskowak (Grove City, Pa./Grove City Area) continued her trend of strong showing with a placement in the top ten at eighth (20:18). Sophomore Hannah Jones (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) was right behind Jaskowak with a ninth place finish (20:25). Senior Angela Barber (Camp Hill, Pa./East Pennsboro) rounded out the Red Flash scorers with a time of 20:48 which earned the veteran runner a 12^th place finish. Shannon Cody (Exton, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) and Hannah Weber (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport Area) once again finished in the SFU top seven.

The rest of the SFU results can be found here.

The cross country teams return to action with the Paul Short Run on September 29^th at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.