LOGAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. – The Lebanon Valley men's cross country team had a strong day as the program ran at two separate meets. The Dutchmen sent their top runners to Gettysburg, where they won the Aubrey Shenk Invitational by packing up and placing all five runners from 11th to 16th. The rest of the team competed at Rowan's Inter-Regional Border Battle, where they held their own against a strong field.
 
"We had two different groups today," Head Coach James O'Brien stated. "Our top guys went to Gettysburg, while our entire team went to Rowan. At Rowan, we really held our own, almost beating Stevens and finishing near DeSales, who are two strong teams in the Middle Atlantic Conference. Wyatt and Elijah, in particular, were very strong at the front for us. At Gettysburg, we ran with the intent of getting a strong effort in but staying connected in a pack. The group ran about 20 seconds faster than I thought they would. We are at a great spot heading into championships."
 
LVC finished 17th out of 35 scoring teams at Rowan, scoring 489 points. Carnegie Mellon, which is ranked second in the Mid-Atlantic Region above the Dutchmen, won the team title with 67 points. Swarthmore was second at 144 while Haverford finished third with a score of 161. Messiah was the top MAC school with a score of 165 to finish fourth. DeSales was 15th at 453 while Stevens was 16th at 489.
 
Wyatt Leitzel led the Dutchmen with an 8,000-meter time of 25:48.7 to finish 53rd overall in the field of 326. Elijah McKell wasn't too far behind him as he crossed the line in 26:00.6 to finish 68th. Dylan Lenhart was the next LVC finisher with a time of 26:41.6 in 119th place. Liam Allen finished 139th with a time of 26:59.3, and Chad Keller rounded out the top five in 156th as he crossed the line in 27:09.2. Samuel Bower was the sixth finisher for the Dutchmen with a time of 27:20.9, while Dylan Miller ran 27:52.4 to give LVC seven runners under 28 minutes. Lebanon Valley had an average time of 26:31.
 
The Dutchmen's top five runners won the Aubrey Shenk Invitational hosted by Gettysburg College as they packed up to finish within a two-second span of each other. The Dutchmen scored 56 points to outpace Division I St. Bonaventure University in second at 68 points. Lukas Walko was the first Dutchman across the line in 11th with a career-best 8,000-meter time of 25:15.4. Andrew Namatka and Rory Lieberman were right on his heels with identical times of 25:15.6. Joe Chukoskie was next to finish in 25:15.7. Eric Shelton rounded out the pack in 16th place with a career-best time of 25:17.2. Walko's time is 10th on the program's Top 15 List while Namatka's time is 11th and Shelton's time is 12th.
 
The Dutchmen will close out the regular season next Friday, Oct. 24, with the annual Last Chance Run Fast Invitational at Union Canal Tunnel Park in Lebanon. The men's race is scheduled for 12 p.m., with the Dutchmen expected to hold out all their top runners.

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