Oct. 21, 2006

FINDLAY, Ohio - The Mercyhurst College men's cross country placed 12th at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championships at Findlay. Kenneth Foster was the top Laker finisher, placing 47th overall in the 8K event.

Foster ran a 26:31 to finish 47th overall (41st scoring), just six seconds ahead of Josh Peterson. Peterson took 51st place (44th) in 26:37. With a time of 27:09, Matt Deragon finished 69th (55th). Nate Smith and Kevin Szczepanski finished the scoring for Mercyhurst. Smith ran a 28:02 for 95th (72nd) and Szczepanski ran a 28:07 for 105th (77th).

Grand Valley State won the team championship with a total of just 24 points. All five of GVSU's scorers finished in the top eight, including Nate Peck who won the individual crown with a time of 24:19. He beat Saginaw Valley's Paul Jozwiak by 23 seconds.

Mercyhurst totaled 286 team points, finishing well ahead of rival Gannon who tallied 346.

Wayne State was second with 66 points, followed by Saginaw Valley (92), Hillsdale (100), and Ashland (119) to round out the top five.

Mercyhurst is idle next week and travels to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on November 4, hosted by Wisconsin-Parkside.