Red Flash Run at Penn State in Preparation for Conference Showdown at CCSU
University Park, Pa. (October 12, 2007) – Freshman Timothy Wertner (Chambersburg, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) and senior Anna Hoffman (Enon Valley, Pa./Mohawk) led each of their teams with a 27:26 time in the 8K and a 21:59 finish in the 6K, respectively, at the Penn State Nationals against the likes of some very bona fide competition.
Wertner’s time of 27:56 earned him 79th place overall for the Red Flash, pacing the men to a 19th place finish at the invitational. Senior John Balouris (Allison Park, Pa./Shaler) turned in a 28:30 effort while senior counterpart David Holliday (Stonington, Conn./Ledyard) lagged just nine second behind with a clock of 28:39. Junior Ryan Bair (Leola, Pa./Conestoga Valley) ran the 8K race in a time of 29:03, while sophomore Chris Behre (Flanders, N.J./Mount Olive) and freshman Brent Digiorgio (Armagh, Pa./United High School) put together times of 29:09 and 30:14, correspondingly. Saint Francis’ collective time amounted to 2:23:05 and posted an average time of 28:37.
For the women, Hoffman’s 21:59 in the 6K produced a 40th place individual finish out of 174 female runners, leading the Red Flash to an 18th place team finish at the Penn State Nationals. Behind Hoffman was senior Shannon Kovack (Connellsville, Pa./Connellsville), running for 85th place at 22:54. Senior Antonia Artise (North East, Pa./Iroquois) trekked a 24:15 finish while junior Sarah Rutledge (Parsippany, N.J./Parsippany) put forth a time of 24:34. The women of SFU put together a sum total of 1:58:43, averaging a time of 23:45.
The Red Flash are now preparing for the Northeast Conference Championships at Central Connecticut State University, commencing on Saturday, October 27th. Through the leadership of Hoffman and Balouris, Saint Francis hopes to send a significant amount of runners to the Mid-Atlantic NCAA Regional Championships at Lehigh University on Saturday, November 10th.