In a competitive field filled with Division II teams, the men’s cross country team managed to place in the top 15 overall.

The Jackets returned from Center Valley where they competed at the DeSales Invitational Saturday, Oct. 6 and finished 11th place out of 26 teams. The performance by the men was noticed by the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, with two runners from Waynesburg winning individual awards.

For the Jackets, sophomore Nate Jecelin was named PAC men’s cross country Runner of the Week and freshman Silas Mays earned the title of PAC men’s cross county Rookie of the Week.

From the perspective of head coach Chris Hardie, the Yellow Jackets put on a strong performance with the entire team finishing in the top half of the invitational.

“We were happy with the placing as a team, they ran really well,” said Hardie. “We had a strategy going into it and the majority of them implemented it really well.”

In the race, Jecelin finished first for the Yellow Jackets with a time of 27:41. For Hardie, Jecelin’s performance was a testament to his training.

“Jecelin was our top guy, he’s been training really well,” said Hardie. “He has been training at a really high level these last few weeks.”

Jecelin placed 45th out of 263 competitors, crossing the finish line first for the Jackets. Another sophomore runner who placed in the top three for the Yellow Jackets was Matt Durgin, who placed second for the Jackets and 62nd overall in the race with a time of 28:28.8.

With a strong ability to adjust and maneuver the course, Durgin said Jecelin helped the team place in the top 15 this week.

“[Jecelin] ran pretty conservative up front at first and he really ran the hills well,” said Durgin. “I think as a team we ran pretty well as we finished 11th out of 25 teams – that was a good thing we did this week.”

Other runners for Waynesburg University in the top seven included sophomores Jordan Payne and Mac Colomb. For the Jackets, Payne finished 66th overall while Colomb finished 71st.

According to Hardie, Payne’s execution of the game plan allowed him to place well within the team.

“Payne strategically did really well throughout the race and his placement was really well,” said Hardie.

Rounding out the top seven on the team included sophomore Kyle Warmbein, freshman Silas Mays and junior Jared Scott.

Despite the strong performance from the team, Durgin said there is still room for improvement for future invitationals.

“I believe I could have ran as a pack more,” said Durgin. “We were a little more spread out in our times this past weekend. I think if we just got our first place through fifth place [to finish] a little closer, that would have helped us perform better.”

With the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Invitational being hosted at DeSales later in November, Hardie said it was important for the team to get experience on the course before the event.

Next, the team will travel to Oberlin, Ohio to compete in the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble Saturday, Oct. 13.