vansyckle third at cc xc meet

A third-place finish by senior Timothy VanSyckle (left) was the highlight of the Centennial Conference Championships for the Muhlenberg cross country teams.

VanSyckle ran the 8,000 meters in 25:52.50, trailing only runners from Dickinson and Haverford. His finish matched the best ever by a Mule runner at the CC meet. The only member of the Muhlenberg men’s team to place third previously was current head coach Will Elson in 2002. Amanda Wachter of the women’s program came in third at the inaugural CC meet in 1993.

In four years, VanSyckle improved his standing at the CC Championships from 36th to 22nd to sixth to third.

For the women, sophomore Kate Mahoney crossed the line in 10th place, a big improvement from her 69th-place showing last year. It was the top finish by a Muhlenberg woman at the CC meet since 2005.

In the team standings, the men came in fifth, snapping their streak of eight consecutive top-four finishes, and the women were eighth. The meet marked a changing of the guard in CC cross country, as the Dickinson men snapped Haverford’s 15-year winning streak, and Johns Hopkins won its first women’s title.

Although both Muhlenberg teams did not finish quite as high as they were hoping to, their performances in light of several injuries left them confident about the NCAA Mideast qualifier coming up in two weeks.
Click here for Muhlenberg box score.
Click here for complete women’s results.
Click here for complete men’s results.