NORTH CANTON, Ohio (Oct. 18, 2008) – The Thiel College cross country teams both fared well in at the Walsh Invitational on Saturday, with the men capturing a second-place finish and the women wrapping up sixth place.

Only Walsh outpaced the men on the day in a six –team field, capturing 22 points to Thiel's 61.  Freshman Richard Peterson (Cochranton, Pa./Meadville) (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) earned a team-best sixth place finish with a time of 26:51.

Rounding out the men's entry were Alex Bent (Oakhill, Va./Westfield) (Oak Hill, Va./Westfield) (14th, 27:36), Bryan Montozzi (Stoneboro, Pa./Lakeview) (Stoneboro, Pa./Lakeview) (17th, 28:35), Derek Workman (Valencia, Pa./Mars) (Valencia, Pa./Mars) (18th, 28:40), and Ben Moran (Bradford, Pa./Bradford) (Bradford, Pa./Bradford) (20th, 28:52).

Freshman Tiffany Blosser (Fairchance/Albert Gallatin) (Fairchance, Pa./Albert Gallatin) earned a 15th-place finish with a time of 20:40 to pace the Thiel contingent.  Sarah McAfee (Butler/Butler) (Butler, Pa./Butler) ran a 22:23 and Rebecca Walton (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) registered a 22:37 to finish in 34th and 37th place, respectively.

“I thought it was a solid showing in our last tune-up before the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championships,” said Thiel head coach Kevin Pool.  “We got to run on a faster course and a lot of us took advantage of that and competed well.”

The PAC Championship meet is scheduled for Nov. 1 at Voice of America Park in West Chester, Ohio.  Thomas More College will host the event.