(Posted September 30, 2006)

GRANTHAM, Pa. â?? The Juniata College men\'s and women\'s cross country teams each got a number of solid efforts while taking on some top regional programs in a quad-meet at Messiah Saturday afternoon. The Juniata men placed second among the four teams, finishing ahead of both Gettysburg and Catholic, while finishing 15 points shy of host Messiah. The Eagle women ran to a fourth-place finish among the four teams. WOMENâ??S For the Juniata women\'s team the Eagles were unable to come out in front of ant of the other teams, though they suffered a tight 26-29 set-back to Catholic. The score was 18-43 against Gettysburg and 15-48 against Messiah. Megan Jones (Meadville/Meadville) led the Juniata women on the day as she earned a top-10 finish by running a time of 20:50. The time was good for exactly 10th position. Lia Bella (Morris Catholic/Rockaway, N.J.) was the second Juniata runner to cross the line as she finished 14th and posted a time of 21:00. Kristen Gochnauer (Warwick/Lititz) was third for Juniata with her 25th-place finish. She ran a time of 21:39 for the Blue and Gold. Christina Jones (Fallston/Bel Air, Md.) was the fourth Juniata runner in the race as her time of 21:56 was good for a 27th-place finish. Rounding out the top-five, and just a spot behind Jones was Sarah Spatz (Governor Mifflin/Mohnton) who finished 28th and ran a time of 21:59. Gettysburg\'s Rachel Guthridge ran a time of 20:04 to finish first in the women\'s race. MENâ??S The Eagle men were sparked by a trio of runners finishing in the top 10 as they narrowly pulled out a 28-27 win over Gettysburg and topped Catholic by a score of 43-17. The score against Messiah on the meet was 21-36 in favor of the hosts. Juniata was paced by Matthew Bailey (Hempfield/East Petersburg) who raced to a fifth-place finish and posted a time of 27:58. Right behind him was teammate Shawn Rumery (Thornton Academy/Dayton, Maine) who placed sixth and claimed a time of 28:02. One of the top efforts for the Eagles on the day was turned in by the team\'s third place finisher Eric Hoover (Brandywine/Wilmington, Del.) who placed eighth in the race. His time of 28:14 was more than two and-a-half minutes faster than the time he posted on the same course last season. Running home in fourth position for the Eagles was Mike Chirdon (Riverview/Verona) who crossed the line in 15th position and posted a time of 28:48. A mere two seconds behind him and in 16th place was Sam Williams (Central/Roaring Spring) who covered the distance in a time of 28:50 to round out the scoring for the Eagles. The top finisher in the men\'s race was Messiah\'s Frank Eanes who ran a time of 27:08. Juniata will be on the course again next Saturday when the Eagles compete at the Dickinson Invitational. ###

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