The men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Kutztown University on Saturday, Sept. 14. They competed in the DII-DIII Challenge and came out very successful. The men ended up in second place with a total of 66 points, just thirteen points behind of the first place team, Lock Haven. The women ended up placing fourth in the race with a score of 109, just behind three very talented DII teams.

The men’s team placed second out of thirteen teams at the DII-DIII Challenge. Out of all 176 runners, two Red Devils placed in the top ten of the 8K race. Ryan Steinbeck ’14 finished in seventh place with a time of 26:00. Nick Stender ’15 followed four seconds behind and landed himself tenth place in the race. Shortly after, Henry Mynatt ’14 finished in fifteenth place with a time of 26:10.7, and Alex Strenta ’14 finished .2 seconds behind him, finishing in sixteenth place.

The women came out strong and stole four of the top thirty spots in the 6K race. Claire Brawdy placed first amongst Red Devils and eleventh out of all 192 runners with a time of 23:01. Emily Miller ’14 finished in twenty-fourth place with a time of 23:34. Emily Thorne ’15 and Mackenzie Shelgren ’16 also landed themselves spots in the top thirty with times under 23:45. Out of all sixteen teams, the Red Devils finished fourth, just behind California, Stonehill, and Seton Hill.

The men’s and women’s teams have two weeks to prepare themselves for the Dickinson Long/Short Invitational. On Saturday, Sept. 28, the Red Devils will host this event at Big Spring High School in Newville, PA. The race will begin at 10 a.m. Last season, both the men and women’s teams won the Long/Short Invitational.