LEBANON, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley men's cross country team packed up its top runners, placing eight in the top 20 from ninth to 19th to finish second as a team behind Division I Navy at the Dutchmen Invitational on Saturday morning at Union Canal Tunnel Park in Lebanon.
 
"The course ran really well, but ultimately ever-so-slightly slower than last year with the humidity and some softness due to storms on Thursday", Head Coach James O'Brien stated. "Our top group used this as a controlled tempo run, as it is just so early in the season, we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves just yet. Some really strong efforts behind that group, especially from our first-years, that I'm excited about. I think we got what we needed out of this first effort of the season."
 
Joe Chukoskie was the first to cross the line in a pack of seven runners that all finished with a time of 26:35 on the 8,000-meter course. Chukoskie was a step ahead of everyone to finish ninth overall out of 167 runners at 26:35.1. Eric Shelton was right behind him in 10th, just in front of Andrew Namatka in 11th as both runners had a time of 26:35.2. Sam Rothstein was 13th with a time of 26:35.3. Rory Lieberman finished right on his heels with a time of 26:35.4 and Lukas Walko rounded out the group with a time of 26:35.6 in 15th.
 
Wyatt Leitzel was the next LVC finisher in 17th place with a career-best time of 26:42.20. He lowered his previous best of 27:09.9 that he ran at the Paul Short Run last year. Samuel Bower wasn't far behind him in 19th with a time of 26:58.30.
 
Navy won the team title with 24 points, putting four in the top five, including individual champion Trevor Hayes, who finished in 25:13.6. The Dutchmen scored 57 points to distance themselves from Susquehanna in third place with 94 points. Arcadia and Ursinus each had 169 points, with Arcadia earning the tiebreaker to finish fourth while Ursinus rounded out the top five.

LVC Finishers

PL	NAME	Avg. Mile	TIME	SCORE
9	Joe Chukoskie	05:20.9	26:35.1	9
10	Andrew Namatka	05:20.9	26:35.2	10
11	Eric Shelton	05:20.9	26:35.2	11
13	Sam Rothstein	05:20.9	26:35.4	13
14	Rory Lieberman	05:20.9	26:35.4	14
15	Lukas Walko	05:21.0	26:35.6	15
17	Wyatt Leitzel	05:22.3	26:42.2	17
19	Samuel Bower	05:25.5	26:58.3
25	Elijah McKell	05:31.2	27:26.6
26	Dylan Lenhart	05:32.8	27:34.5
29	Liam Allen	05:35.4	27:47.4
34	Dylan Miller	05:37.5	27:57.9
42	Chad Keller	05:45.2	28:36.2
43	Caden Bell	05:45.2	28:36.3
56	Lucas Newell	05:53.4	29:16.9
60	Owen Kreider	05:55.5	29:27.4
63	Ben Graybeal	05:56.0	29:30.0
71	Aidan Jennings	05:59.1	29:45.0
75	Jason Nester	06:00.1	29:50.4
93	Ethan Darlington	06:13.9	30:58.6
101	Trevor Gipe	06:16.1	31:09.5

 
Up Next
The Dutchmen will be off for a couple of weeks before returning to action on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Lock Haven Invitational. The first race is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the West Branch Course in Lock Haven.

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