By: Dana Relation
Sports Information Assistant
relatdm10@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Juniata College men's cross country team made great improvements in the Landmark Conference under the direction of head coach Jon Cutright, in his 15th season. The team placed second overall in the conference meet for the fourth time in seven years.
Five Eagles earned all-conference nods at the end of the season. Senior Nate Alter (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) finished sixth at the conference championship meet in 27:38.40, earning him all-conference accolades in all four years of his career. This is Alter's second straight year earning First Team All-Landmark honors. Alter set the program record in the 8K at the Lock Haven River Run (Sept. 21) in a time of 25:55.00. To add to the honors, Alter was also recently named to the Landmark All-Sportsmanship Team.
Four first time honorees claimed Second Team honors to join Alter on the All-Landmark team. Sophomore Ryan Bogdan (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) crossed the line in 27:59.00 to claim a 10th place finish at the championship meet. Sophomore Matt Guetzlaff (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) placed 12th in 28:19.60. Freshman Nick Simpson (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) crossed in 28:23.40 to finish 13th overall. Rounding out the all-conference roster was freshman Xavier Cachon (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Lower Merion). Cachon finished 14th overall with a time of 27:16.90, his second fastest time of the year.
As a team, a strong performance came at the NCAA Mideast Regionals. The Eagles placed 15th out of 54 teams. Many individuals also had personal bests at the meet. The trio of Simpson, junior Stephen Park (State College, Pa./State College), and sophomore Jacob Krott (Temple, Pa./Muhlenburg) all set career best times in the last meet of the season.
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