Laker’s men’s XC records best regional finish yet

Bernard Garwig, Staff writer

On Nov. 5, The Mercyhurst men’s cross country team posted its best ever finish at the NCAA DII Atlantic Regionals. The Lakers have attended to the event since 2011.
The race, hosted in Slippery Rock, saw the Lakers finishing seventh among the 22 who competed against each other at the event. The Lakers posted a combined score of 244 among the team’s top five runners.
Shippensburg University was the champion for the Men’s 10K, scoring 41 points. Lock Haven University came in second with 63 points, followed by Edinboro with 72.
Lock Haven’s Monroe Addison finished first out of 124 for the race with a time of 32:23. Shippensburg took both second and third with Kieran Sutton (32:35) and Alexandre Balla (32:50).
“As a team, we’re super excited,” said senior Jake Eneix. “This was a goal we’ve had ever since we came to school.”
Eneix led the way for the Lakers, finishing 22nd in the 10,000 meter race with a time of 34:05.
He was followed by a pack of seniors for the Lakers: Anthony Amroski, who posted a time of 34:51 and finished in 36th place, Shawn Wiler, who ran a 35:27 (52nd) and Chris Liatti, who recorded a 35:42 (58th) on the course. Sophomore Danny Dmuchowski rounded out the scoring for the Lakers with a 36:14 time for 76th place.
Juniors Ryan Brennan and John Harry completed the top seven for the team, who placed 84th and 109th respectively for times of 36:43 and 39:28 each.
Eneix emphasized that this year’s finish was the fruit of his and his eldest teammates’ labor.
“We had a great team our freshman year but we lost two of our top seven,” said Eneix. “We came into this season knowing that this is probably the best shot that we’ve had throughout our three, four years at Mercyhurst. Everyone just came to practice every single day with the mindset that we need to do well.”
The team works together to push each other harder every day so that they can reach their maximum potential when they compete.
In light of the season’s conclusion, Eneix was positive in his reflection of his and his other teammates’ years at Mercyhurst.
“It was a pleasure watching this group grow into a group of me. It was great to watch this group really turn into a team that really embodies what Mercyhurst is about,” Eneix said.