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(Lock Haven, Pa.) - The Lock
Haven
University
of Pennsylvania
men’s cross country team heads to the NCAA Division II Cross Country
Championships this weekend, Sat., Nov. 22. The national meet will be hosted by St Augustine’s
College at the SAS
Soccer
Park
in Cary,
North Carolina. Start time for the men’s race
is 12 p.m.
This marks the
third time in five years that Lock Haven has sent a team to the national
championships. The Bald Eagles, currently ranked 14th in the nation,
will take on the 24-team and 185-individual field in an attempt to better the
program’s top performance of 13th place overall accomplished in
the 1999 season.
The
Bald Eagles earned their trip to nationals by winning their first NCAA Division
II East Regional title two weeks ago. Lock Haven won the regional crown by
placing five runners in the top-22 -- three of which finished in the top-15 --
for a total of 70 points, just one better than the defending regional champion
Edinboro University.
“The
guys have been focused on this race since August, and I think they’re ready
to go after it,” said second-year head coach Aaron Russell.
“Patience
will be the key, as the rigorous course will catch up with some teams over the
6.2 miles,” continued Russell. “We’ve trained for this course, and it
should be to our advantage. If the guys don’t get too over-excited early on,
they will do fine.”
Lock
Haven is led by junior Chris Cowan (Horseheads, N.Y./Thomas A. Edison). Cowan will be
contending for All-America honors after placing third at the regional meet and
winning the individual Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)
crown.
Cowan
will be joined by a depth of talented runners that have run consistently
up-front all season. Junior Joe Wiegner (Ivyland, Pa./Council Rock), sophomore Billy
Buckenmeyer (Alexander, N.Y./Alexander Central), and freshmen Ryan
Blood (Summerdale, Pa./East Pennsboro) and Aaron Benson (Mt. Jewett, Pa,/Kane Area) have rounded out the
top-five for the Haven for the majority of the season.
Freshman Chris
Robson (Lewisberry, Pa./Red Land) has consistently been top-seven all year,
while senior Rick Clendaniel (Warminster, Pa./ William Tennent) came on strong in
the end to earn the trip to nationals.
“I’m
proud of these guys just for making it to nationals,” said Russell. “To
bring this team from where it was last year [8th at PSAC/8th
at East Regionals] to where it is now is a testament to how hard they’ve
worked.”
Along
with winning its first ever East Region title, the 2003 Lock Haven squad has
also made school history by winning its first PSAC team title.
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Freshman
Ryan Blood (l) and
sophomore Billy Buckenmeyer (r)
are two of the team of seven
Haven harriers who will race
on Saturday at the
NCAA Division II National Cross Country Championships.
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