Red Flash Men and Women’s Cross Country Successful In First Home Invite

LORETTO, Pa. (Sept. 15, 2007) – Senior John Balouris (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler) and sophomore Anna Hoffman (Enon Valley, Pa. / Mohawk) set course records to lead the Saint Francis men’s and women’s cross country team’s to wins on Saturday at the first annual Father Bede Hines Cross Country Invitational.

The Red Flash men’s defeated Penn State-Altoona 15-49, and the women won by a tally of 15-50.

In the men’s 8K, SFU runners took five of the top six spots, led by Balouris’ course record time of 30 minutes, 39 seconds. Freshman Tim Wertner (Chambersburg, Pa. / Greencastle-Antrim) finished second in 31:02, junior John Bair (Leola, Pa. / Conestoga Valley) finished third with a time of 31:11, senior David Holliday (Stonington, Conn. / Ledyard) was fifth overall in 32:07, and senior Michael Tilger (Collegeville, Pa. / Archbishop Carroll) took sixth in 32:14.

Hoffman won the women’s 5K with a course record time of 19:20, one minute faster than second-place teammate senior Shannon Kovack (Connellsville, Pa. / Connellsville), who crossed the line in 20:20. Junior Sarah Rutledge (Parsippany, N.J. / Parsippany) finished third in 21:16, sophomore Allyson Sheehan (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Baldwin) took fifth in 21:58, and senior Antonia Artise (North East, Pa. / Iroquois) was sixth with a time of 22:05.

Runners from Robert Morris also competed in the race, but the Colonials did not figure into the team scoring with an incomplete team (less than five competitors).