LANCASTER, Pa. – Lexi Salerno won the opening race of her senior season with a time of 19:21.2 during Saturday's tri-meet against Millersville and Elizabethtown. Salerno's time bested the field by over four seconds on the 5,000 meter Baker Campus course. Emma Kline (19:30.8) and Elizabeth O'Connell (20:01.6) also registered top 10 finishes in the meet for the hosts.

The competition was certainly steep with Elizabethtown entering the meet as the No. 5 team in the Mid-Atlantic Region preseason rankings, in addition to the Division II Marauders. The Diplomats gave both teams all they could handle in the head-to-head scoring as just five places separated F&M from the regionally-ranked Blue Jays (27-32) while Millersville won by a 25-33 team score.

Salerno's win was the first of her cross country career and runs her total up to four top 10 finishes across 12 career cross country events. Kline and O'Connell followed her to the line with fifth and 10th place showings, respectively. June Sanchez (21:09.2) and Alysse Danyi (21:15.4) rounded out the Diplomats' scoring contingent while Kate Henderson (21:38.7) and Valerie Fieberg (21:51.8) also broke the 22-minute mark as the team's sixth and seventh runners.

Franklin & Marshall will return to action this coming Friday, September 10 as the Diplomats trek to Dickinson for the Little Three meet which also includes Gettysburg. That event will get underway at 6 p.m. in Carlisle.