The Dickinson men’s and women’s cross country teams both posted great results in their first races of the season, winning the Galen Piper Invitational at Shippensburg University on Friday night, September 1. Each Red Devil squad had three top-10 finishes, scoring 33 points as Division II Shippensburg and the Shippensburg Alumni tied for second with 49.

Bryce Descavish ’20 was the event’s top intercollegiate runner, placing second overall with a time of 19:22. Classmates Duncan Hopkins ’19 and Eric Herrmann ’19 finished in fourth and fifth with times of 19:29 and 19:32, respectively.

Classmates Nathan Udell ’18 and Kyle Fitch ’18 also scored points for the Red Devils, coming in with times of 20:00 and 20:01 to place 11th and 13th overall, respectively.

The Red Devil women posted three top-10 finishes on their way to a win over the Division II Raiders.

Tessa Cassidy ’20 led the way, placing second, just one second behind first place, with a time of 14:59. Hannah Gore ’18 and Sarah House ’20 crossed the line together at the 15:14 mark to place ninth and 10th, respectively.

The Red Devils claimed 11th and 12th as well with senior Kelsey Horowitz ’18 coming in just ahead of first-year Evelyn Lantz ’21 with respective times of 15:19 and 15:20.

Elizabethtown bested Gettysburg 54-58 in the seven team field to place third and fourth in the team standings, respectively.

With this victory, the Red Devils took home “The Owl” and will look to carry that momentum into next week’s Little Three Championship with Franklin & Marshall and Gettysburg. The Red Devils are set to host the Little Three next Friday at Dickinson Park with the men set to start at 6:00pm and the women at 6:30 pm.

Both the Red Devils men’s and women’s cross-country teams have a long track record of success in the Little Three, earning first-place honors in each of the last seven seasons. They will look to continue their dominance against their Centennial Conference rivals this weekend.