GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley College cross country teams split up for a pair of meets on Saturday, with the top Dutchmen men's runners competing at the Connecticut College Invitational in Waterford, Connecticut, while the rest of the team ran at the Aubrey Shenk Invitational hosted by Gettysburg College. Both meets featured large and competitive fields.

"A good showing from our guys," Coach James O'Brien stated about the men's team in Connecticut. "We matched our program-best five-runner average of 25:14. We didn't quite beat any teams that would lock up an NCAA berth later in the year, but this performance likely moves us to a bubble spot in the selection process. Rory's school record today was superb, and I'm also really proud of Dylan Lenhart stepping up to the plate as a senior with a massive PR today. Time to regroup and focus on championship season."
 
The men's team ran strong against a deep field of 10 nationally ranked teams in the Blue 8K race at the Connecticut College Invitational. The Dutchmen finished 11th as a team with 340 points. Senior Rory Lieberman finished fifth overall in a school record time of 24:11.7, averaging 4:52 per mile. He beat his previous personal best time of 24:19.2 that he ran at Lock Haven last year. Andrew Namatka provided LVC's second scoring finish, crossing the line 38th overall in 24:50.9. His time is fourth in the school record books. Wyatt Leitzel recorded a time of 25:39.7, while Lukas Walko was right behind him in 25:41.4. Dylan Lenhart rounded out the Dutchmen's scoring five with a time of 25:46.9. Dylan Miller finished in 26:54.9, while Liam Allen crossed the line in 27:05.1 to complete LVC's seven runners.
 
The rest of the Dutchmen competed at the Aubrey Shenk Invitational in Gettysburg, where the LVC women placed 20th out of 46 scoring teams with 587 points in the 6K. The Dutchmen men finished 24th with 737 points in the 8K.
 
Charlee Kurtz led the LVC women with a time of 23:42.7, followed by Jocelyn Saultz, who crossed the finish line in 23:58.6. Caroline Borleis and Christine Wagner finished close together in 24:28.5 and 24:29.8, respectively. Nina Milosevic completed the scoring five with a 24:53.7 performance. Lila Parry ran 25:31.0, while Grace Buerke posted a time of 26:55.1. Ciara Millan also competed and finished in 31:53.8.

"This was our best showing yet so far this season. I am very pleased with how we handled such a large and challenging field today. York beat us twice in a row now and will give us a target to aim for at MACs in two weeks, as I believe that they are the third-best team on paper of the 18 in the conference. It's going to take everything we can to compete with them as well as a few other strong programs at MACs."
 
On the men's side, Josh Miller paced the Dutchmen with an 8K time of 26:49.4. Caden Bell was LVC's second finisher in 27:24.2, and Logan Koehn followed closely in 27:26.9. Cooper Allred finished in 27:45.9, and Ben Graybeal completed LVC's top five in 27:58.3. Trevor Gipe ran 29:08.4, while Ethan Darlington recorded a time of 29:33.6. Owen Kreider (29:35.5), Thad Gilbert (29:37.1), Aidan Jennings (30:05.6), and Michael Royles (30:45.4) also represented the Dutchmen in Gettysburg.

"A ton of lifetime and seasonal PRs from this group. This gives me a lot of confidence in our depth just two weeks out from MACs as we now have nine guys sub 27 on the season and 13 sub 28."

The Dutchmen will be back in action on Friday, October 23, as they host the Last Chance Run Fast Invitational at Union Canal Tunnel Park. The first race is scheduled for 3 p.m.

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