ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday, November 15, 2003

Etown Finishes Third at NCAA Mideast Regional Championships; Steve Sanko Qualifies as Individual for NCAA Division III Championship Meet

CARLISLE, Pa. --- Elizabethtown finished third out of 35 teams at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship hosted by Dickinson College Saturday. The Blue Jays totaled 117 points and finished behind first place Haverford, which had 64 points, and second place Carnegie Mellon, which totaled 73 points. This year, only the top two men's teams in the Mideast Region qualify to compete as teams at the NCAA Division III Championship, leaving Etown out of the NCAA field as a team for only the second time in the last five years. However, Etown's top finisher, Steve Sanko (Hazleton, PA/Bishop Hafey), who placed fourth overall, did qualify as an individual to compete at the NCAA Division III Championship meet next Saturday.

Sanko led the way for Etown with a time 26:07 over the 8000m course, and he finished fourth out of 249 runners and just 16 seconds off the winning pace. In addition to Sanko, Etown also had three more runners finish in the top 35 to earn All-Mideast Region honors. Etown's number two finisher, Greg Wetzel (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks East) placed 14th overall in 26:46. Sean Mulcahy (Towanda, PA/Towanda) came in third for Etown and placed 23rd overall in 27:02, and Jose Miranda (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Township), Etown's number four runner, came in 25th in 27:04. Nate Moore (Elverson, PA/Twin Valley) was Etown's fifth finisher, and he placed 51st overall in 27:54, giving the Blue Jays a spread of 1:48 from number one to number five.

A pair of first-years, Jason Ives (Middlebury Center, PA/Wellsboro Area) and Patrick Donovan (South Pasadena, CA/St. Francis) gained valuable big-meet experience by running as Etown's number six and seven, respectively. Ives placed 81st in the 249 runner field in 28:24, and Donovan came in 101st in 28:47.

Sanko will return to action Saturday, November 22 in the NCAA Division III Championship meet, which will be held at Hanover College in Hanover, IN. The start time for the men's race is scheduled for noon.

At Carlisle, Pa.; 2003 NCAA Mideast Regional Championship
Top Ten Team Scores: 1. Haverford# 64; 2. Carnegie Mellon# 73; 3. Elizabethtown 117; 4. Dickinson 182; 5. Messiah 187; 6. Allegheny 227; 7. Swarthmore 227; 8. Widener 230; 9. Susquehanna 252; 10. Salisbury 312.
# Qualified as a team for NCAA Championships
Etown Results: 4. Steve Sanko*% 26:07; 14. Greg Wetzel* 26:46; 23. Sean Mulcahy* 27:02; 25. Jose Miranda* 27:04; 51. Nate Moore 27:54; 81. Jason Ives 28:24; 101. Patrick Donovan 28:47.
% Qualified as individual for NCAA Championships
* All-Mideast Region runner