Men’s XC Splits at Little Three Meet

By EJ Gill, Contributing Writer

The Gettysburg College Men’s Cross Country Team competed at the Little Three Meet at Franklin and Marshall College on Sept. 13th.

The Bullets faced off against conference rivals Dickinson and Franklin and Marshall. Gettysburg beat the Diplomats 16-41 but fell to the No. 33 ranked Red Devils 42-19.

The Little Three Meet was first hosted by Gettysburg College in 1966. Gettysburg won the first-ever meet and went on to win 13 more additional times.

Leading the way for the Bullets was senior Sam Sheldon who finished second place (15:29.8) in a field of 38 runners. This is Sheldon’s third straight race of placing within the top three. From Tully, NY, Sheldon has been running track since his junior year of high school and since his sophomore year at Gettysburg.

Sheldon has a good outlook for his season saying, “The goals I have for myself for this season are posting a time for the 8k that is in the all-time top ten at Gettysburg College, finishing all-conference and all-regional, and potentially even qualifying for the National Championships.”

Gettysburg’s second finisher was junior Dylan McKeever who placed seventh in 16:05.2. Next was first-year Connor Elliott who came in 12th place in 16:22.8. Senior Aren Heitmann followed Elliont by coming in 13th with a time of 16: 24.0. Freshman Joseph Potz finished 17th in 16:42.1.

The displacers for the team were Sophomore Jack Kenyon who crossed the line 22nd in 16:59.0 and Charles Norelli who finished 24th in 17:01.0.

“For the team, our goal is the finish in the top 5 of the conference, top 10 in the region, and set as many personal bests as we can along the way. We’ve already been on the right track for those goals, with runners setting personal bests week after week, and the recent regional rankings placing us 10th overall in the region and 4th overall in the conference,” senior Sam Sheldon commented.

The cross country team is putting in tireless hours at the gym and on the course to push themselves to be the best they can be. The team has talent from various parts of the nation ranging from Massachusetts to North Carolina, all the way out to California.

“We’re not satisfied yet though, and believe we have a lot of work left to do to fully achieve our goals,” said Sheldon.

The team looks to improve throughout the season and has emphasized that with hard work they can meet their goals. Gettysburg continues their season with even higher expectations with their new regional ranking. The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association ranked the Bullets at No. 10 in the NCAA Division III Mideast rankings this past week.

Author: Gettysburgian Staff

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