NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (Aug. 30, 2008) – The Thiel College men's and women's cross country teams got their 2008 season underway Saturday at the Fisher Invitational hosted by Westminster College.  The men's squad finished in seventh place in field of 11 teams, while the women earned ninth place out of 13 teams.

Both Thiel teams were led by freshmen: Richard Peterson (Cochranton, Pa./Meadville) (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) claimed 20th place individually in the men's race with a time of 29:20, while Brittany Davis (Cleveland, OH/Maple Heights) (Cleveland, Ohio/Maple Heights) took 39th place honors in the women's competition with a time of 27:10.

“This was a good start to our season,” said head coach Kevin Pool.  “Both teams are well ahead of where we were last year, but the same time we still have a lot of room for improvement.  We know there's still a lot of work left to do before the conference championship meet in November.”

Thiel's next meet is on Saturday, Sept. 14 when they participate in the Penn State Behrend Invitational.