LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's cross country team used a total team performance to defeat a regionally-ranked Elizabethtown squad by a 27-28 score on Saturday afternoon. After Wednesday's season opener was canceled, the Diplomats certainly made the most of their chance to run the course on Baker Campus.

The win was certainly notable for the men as the Blue Jays came into their first meet of the season ranked fourth in the preseason United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Mid-Atlantic Regioanl Rankings.

The Blue Jays had the first two finishers in the race but a steady stream of Diplomats helped nullify the top two. F&M's first through fourth runners swept the third through sixth place overall finishes. Alex Fillman led the charge with a time of 16:26.3. Great team running was key as Alfonso Knoll (16:13.6), Alex Miller (16:24.9) and Mike Maglione (16:26.3) followed him to the finish line. The Blue Jays had the next two finishers to deadlock the team score with four runners in for each team.

That left it to a sprint between Bennett Wasch and Elizabethtown's Brandon Baxter. In the end, it was Wasch who had the stronger finishing kick as he outpaced the Blue Jay by four-tenths of a second over the 5K course (16:39.1). Wasch's time also gave him a top 10 individual finish in the field of 46 finishers. Even more evidence of great team running was the Diplomats' spread of just under 26 seconds among the team's top finishers. Ryan Braun (16:43.6) and Stephen Finck (16:45.0) were the team's sixth and seventh runners in today's event, not far off the pace of the scoring runners.

Franklin & Marshall returns to action this coming Friday, September 10 for the Little Three Meet. The tri-meet with Dickinson and Gettysburg will be hosted by the Red Devils and get underway at 6 p.m.