DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – Sophomore
Franco Balbuena (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Coughlin) finished in 23
rd place overall to earn Third Team All-MAC honors as the Wilkes University men's cross country team finished eighth of 17 teams at the 2017 Middle Atlantic Conference Championships Saturday morning.
The Colonels totaled 281 points in the 8k event which featured 158 runners.
For complete results, click
here.
Balbuena finished in 27:46.5 for the eighth fastest time in Wilkes history. The sophomore now owns seven of the top 10 times since 2008. Last season he earned Second Team All-MAC honors at the event with a 14
th place finish.
Freshman
Blade Tirado (Closter, NJ/North Valley ) (42
nd, 28:35.6), freshman
Noah Molina (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) (62
nd, 29:20.1), sophomore
Kevin Singhel (Athens, PA/Athens Area) (100
th, 31:25.4), and freshman
Kevin Long (Goshen, NY/Goshen) (107
th, 31:58.0) rounded out the Wilkes runners to contribute to the team score.
Senior
Kendrick Schell (Northampton, PA/Northampton) (108
th, 32:00.2), sophomore
Ryan Weber (West Haven, CT/West Haven) (109
th, 32:05.3), sophomore
Alan Sebastianelli (Archbald, PA/Valley View) (110
th, 32:12.3), sophomore
Killian Sloan (Bridgeton, NJ/Cumberland Regional) (111
th, 32:19.3), sophomore
Jason Montemuro (Jim Thorpe, PA/Jim Thorpe) (121
st, 33:00.9), and freshman
Colin Ahrensfield (Ashland, PA/North Schuylkill) (145
th, 36:00.9) rounded out the Wilkes finishers.
Messiah captured the team championship with a score of 46. Stevenson finished second with a score of 56 and a score of 96 placed Eastern in third.
Next up for the Colonels is the NCAA Mideast Regional on Saturday, November 11 in Newville, Pa.
2017 MAC MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY AWARDS
Team Champion: Messiah Falcons
Runner of the Year / Individual Champion: Frank Livolsi (So.), Widener
Rookie of the Year: Kyler Shea (Fr.), Messiah
Coach of the Year: Dale Fogelsanger
All-MAC First Team
1. Frank Livolsi (So.), Widener
2. Patrick Watson (So.), Stevenson
3. Kyler Shea (Fr.), Messiah
4. Benjamin Schott (Jr.), Messiah
5. Langston Gash (Jr.), Stevenson
6. Gabe Lamm (Jr.), DeSales
7. Doug Kramer (Fr.), Eastern
8. Greg Thomas (Jr.), Eastern
9. Sean Luzzi (Sr.), Misericordia
10. Alex Schieb (So.), Messiah
All-MAC Second Team
11. Matt Royer (So.), Messiah
12. Alex Fitch (Jr.), Misericordia
13. Ryan Siegel (So.), Stevenson
14. Aditya Singh (Fr.), Stevenson
15. Nicholas Scullin (Sr.), Lebanon Valley
16. Will Summers (Fr.), DeSales
17. Ryan Rastatter (Jr.), Widener
18. Tyler McFeaters (Jr.), Messiah
19. Nate Romberger (Fr.), Messiah
20. Garrett Santis (So.), Lebanon Valley
All-MAC Third Team
21. Kenny Deloff (Fr.), Eastern
22. Nikita Kulick (So.), Stevenson
23. F. Balbuena (So.), Wilkes
24. Kyle Gonoude (Jr.), DeSales
25. Jeffrey Campagna (Fr.), Lebanon Valley
26. Kaleb Burch (Sr.), Messiah
27. Iddriss Iddriss (So.), Stevenson
28. Bryton Henry (So.), Eastern
29. Brian Fridman (Sr.), Arcadia
30. Kyle McCann (Jr.), DeSales
