ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE CROSS COUNTRY 
Saturday, November 13, 1999

ETOWN MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY TEAM FINISHES SECOND OUT OF 30 AT MID-EAST REGIONALS, HEADED TO NCAA NATIONAL MEET FOR FIRST TIME EVER; WOMEN’S TEAM FINISHES 17TH

FROSTBURG, Md. --- The Elizabethtown men’s cross country team will participate in the NCAA Division III national meet for the first time ever as a team. The Blue Jay men finished in second place out of 30 teams at the NCAA Mid-East Regional meet Saturday, hosted by Frostburg State. The women’s team finished 17th this year, an improvement upon 1998’s 18th place finish.

The two top finishing teams, Haverford and Elizabethtown, earned places at the NCAA National Meet Saturday, November 30 at Oshkosh, WI.

Franklin and Marshall’s Frank McCartney finished first overall with a time of 25:31. Elizabethtown’s top finisher was freshman Christian Hoch (Dillsburg, PA/Northern). The first freshman to cross the finish line, he finished eighth overall with a 26:25 time. Etown’s Larry Bullock (Rome, PA/Northeast Bradford) was right on Hoch’s heels, finishing ninth overall in 26:25.

Frank Rivera (Carlstadt, NJ/Becton Regional) was the third Blue Jay finisher, coming in at 28th with a 26:57 time. Jeff Harmon (Owings Mills, MD/Loyola Blakefield) finished 30th in 26:59, Mike Zwatty (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land) finished 32nd in 27:03, Dave Berdan (Dingmans Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley) crossed the line in 47th place in 27:25 and Dustin Scott (Morgantown, PA/Twin Valley) was the seventh Blue Jay to finish and the last to qualify for participation in the national meet. He finished 56th with a time of 27:33.

Hoch, Bullock, Rivera, Harmon and Zwatty were all named to the All-Mid-East Regional team, the most from Etown ever to receive this honor in a single year. Also, Hoch, Rivera, Zwatty and Berdan were among the first seven freshman overall to finish in the race, earning them All-Freshman first team honors. Scott placed among the top fourteen freshman to earn a spot on the All-Freshman second team.

The men’s team improved from a 24th place finish at last year’s regional meet to a second place finish and a program-first team national meet qualification over the course of a single year.

The women’s team improved from an 18th place finish in the 1998 regional to a 17th place finish in 1999.

Pacing the Blue Jay women was freshman Maggie Martin (Berlin, NJ/Pope Paul VI), who finished 34th overall with a time of 19:50. She earned a place on the All-Mid-East Region team and the All-Freshman first team.

Other finishers for the Blue Jays included Gretchen Junko (Washington, PA/Trinity), who crossed the line at 20:37, Jenna Nugent (Severna Park, MD/Severna Park), who finished in 20:45, Melissa Gudleski (Glenmoore, PA/Downingtown), who finished in 21:40, and Lori VanOrder (York, PA/Dallastown), who finished at 21:52.

Gudleski and VanOrder both set personal records in the race, as neither had finished in less than 22 minutes before.

Although the women’s team’s season is finished, the men’s team will race one more time at the NCAA Division III national meet Saturday, November 20 at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. The men’s race will begin at noon.

at Frostburg, Md.
NCAA Mid-East Regional meet
MEN’S RESULTS:
Participants (top two finishing teams receive NCAA Championship bids):
1. Haverford, 63
2. Elizabethtown, 107
3. Dickinson, 115
4. Allegheny, 159
5. Carnegie Mellon, 166
6. Swarthmore, 189
7. Frostburg State, 232
8. U. of Scranton, 262
9. Grove City, 263
10. Gettysburg, 293
11. Widener, 297
12. Johns Hopkins, 317
13. Salisbury State, 381
14. Franklin and Marshall, 395
15. Muhlenberg, 423
16. Moravian, 430
17. Lebanon Valley, 433
18. Allentown, 437
19. Messiah, 472
20. Ursinus, 511
21. Penn State-Behrend, 578
22. Susquehanna, 582
23. Albright, 631
24. Cabrini, 661
25. Marywood, 729
26. Goucher, 731
27. Delaware Valley, 777
28. Washington and Jefferson, 827
29. Western Maryland, 836
30. Wesley, 843
Top individual time:
1. Frank McCartney, Franklin and Marshall, 25:31
Elizabethtown finishers:
8. Christian Hoch, 26:25
9. Larry Bullock, 26:25
28. Frank Rivera, 26:57
30. Jeff Harmon, 26:59
32. Mike Zwatty, 27:03
47. Dave Berdan, 27:25
56. Dustin Scott, 27:33

WOMEN’S RESULTS:
Elizabethtown Finishers:
34. Maggie Martin, 19:50
74. Gretchen Junko, 20:46
78. Jenna Nugent, 20:50
122. Melissa Gudleski, 21:40
131. Lori VanOrder, 21:54