ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday, November 1, 2003

Etown Edges Messiah By Five Points To Claim Fifth Consecutive MAC Title

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. --- Elizabethtown edged out Messiah by five points Saturday to win its fifth consecutive Middle Atlantic Conference championship, keeping alive what is now the longest conference title streak by any Etown team since the men's soccer team rattled off six MAC titles from 1962 to 1967. The Blue Jays totaled 55 points at the MAC Championship meet, which was hosted by DeSales University.

Although there was a 47-second gap between Etown's number one and number two runners, on the whole the team ran a tight race as the Blue Jays number two through number five runners finished within 18 seconds of each other, and none of Etown's twelve runners finished below 43rd place in the 125-runner field. Etown had put together a conservative race strategy for the meet and nearly found itself blindsided by Messiah, which charged out with its best race and put three runners in the top ten.

Etown's number one runner, and the fourth finisher overall, was junior Steve Sanko (Hazleton, PA/Bishop Hafey), who ran the 8000m course in 26:56. He was Etown's only first team All-MAC runner this year as the only Blue Jay to finish in the top ten.

Etown did place five runners on the All-MAC second team consisting of the runners who finish from 11th to 20th, however. Sophomore Greg Wetzel (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks West) finished 11th overall as Etown's number two in 27:43. Nate Moore (Elverson, PA/Twin Valley) crossed the finish line six seconds later in 12th place. Jose Miranda (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township) was right on his heels in 13th place with a time of 27:54. Senior co-captain Sean Mulcahy (Towanda, PA/Towanda) was Etown's number five and 15th-place finisher overall with a time of 28:01, and first-year Jason Ives (Middlebury Center, PA/Wellsboro) placed 16th overall in 18:02.

Etown's number seven finisher and final displacer was junior co-captain Chris Williams (Dillsburg, PA/Northern), who missed a second team All-MAC berth by just 19 seconds, placing 23rd overall in 28:31.

Etown will return to action in two weeks as Dickinson College hosts the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championship meet at Carlisle High School Saturday, November 15.

2003 Middle Atlantic Conference Championships (at DeSales University):

Team Scores: 1. Elizabethtown 55; 2. Messiah 60; 3. Susquehanna 92; 4. Widener 111; 5. Scranton 132; 6. Moravian 135; 7. DeSales 159; 8. Juniata 192; 9. King's 286; 10. Lebanon Valley 289; 11. Albright 316; 12. Delaware Valley 376; 13. Drew 413.

Etown Results (125 runners): 4. Steve Sanko 26:56*; 11. Greg Wetzel 27:43^; 12. Nate Moore 27:49^; 13. Jose Miranda 27:54^; 15. Sean Mulcahy 28:01^; 16. Jason Ives 28:02^; 23. Chris Williams 28:31; 28. Brent Landis 28:53; 32. Jason Theobald 28:59; 40. Dave Bresnahan 29:24; 43. Patrick Donovan 29:33.
* All-MAC First Team; ^ All-MAC Second Team