By Joe Iuliucci '18
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's cross country team posted its best performance at the Centennial Conference Championship in two decades, riding a strong effort from its top three runners to a seventh-place showing on Sunday at Gettysburg.
All week, weather forecasts had predicted rain, and the Bears prepared themselves for soggy racing conditions. When it came time to race, however, conditions were completely dry for both championship races. On the course, the ground was compact and the grass mowed short.
Haverford came out on top yet again, followed by Johns Hopkins, Dickinson, Muhlenberg, Swarthmore, and then Gettysburg. A mere five points from the Bullets, the Ursinus men beat out eighth-place Franklin and Marshall and McDaniel in ninth place. Haverford's Henry Woods was the individual winner in a time of 25:12.
Senior Joseph Iuliucci finished 26th overall to lead three in the top 38 for the Bears, who logged their best team placement at the conference meet since 1998. It was only the fourth top-seven finish in program history; Ursinus was sixth in both 1996 and 1997.
Iuliucci's performance was nearly identical to last year's, when he placed 28th overall. In addition to vaulting two spots, the senior shaved a half-second off his time to cross the line in 26:46.6. Not far behind, sophomore James McDaid and freshman Dylan Geissinger-Tuttle were a man apart to finish 2-3 for the Bears in 27:11.6 and 27:12.6. Geissinger-Tuttle solidified his status as the team's top freshman and was not far off his personal best of 27:05 set at Lehigh's Paul Short Run, while McDaid's mark of 27:11.6 was good for 36th overall, a dozen positions higher than his placement and a full 46 seconds off his clocking as a rookie at the conference meet.
Geissinger-Tuttle was the fourth rookie to complete the course, and his individual placement is believed to have matched sophomore Logan Mazullo's a year ago for the best by an Ursinus freshman at the CC championship since Spencer Shelley finished 36th in 1996.
Sophomores John Haase and Logan Mazullo, freshman Kyle Berardi, and junior Andrew Voyack finished in a tight pack as the team's 4-7 runners. Their times across the line were 28:39.2, 28:40.5, 28:45.3, and 28:46.9, respectively.
Feeling less than ideal the last few days heading into the race, freshman Matt Roeder stepped up and showed some grit to finish with a time of 29:40.9, while sophomore John DeLia (31:06.1) and senior Mitchell Kelly (31:58.1) brought up the rest of the field.
In the slightly rainy open race, Ursinus had senior Tom Lukens and junior Josef Klausner. Opening with an aggressive first mile, Klausner smashed his personal best and overcame the 30:00 barrier with a time of 29:59. Lukens ran a season best of 31:20 to close out his collegiate cross country career.
The 2017 Centennial Conference Championship saw the Ursinus men's team finish one place better, proof of the program's growing strength. Next year the Bears return all but one of their top seven and, with the leadership and expertise of coach Carl Blickle, will only continue their rise in the ranks.
The cross country teams host their annual Fall Twilight on Friday, November 3 before taking on the NCAA Mideast Regional on November 11.