GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's cross country team earned a very strong fifth place finish out of 26 schools at the Gettysburg Invitational on Saturday morning. The Diplomats were the second-highest finishing Division III team in the field that also featured a number of Division I and II squads.

Both Alfonso Knoll and Noah Hall broke the 26 minute mark with their top 20 scoring finishes in the field of 267 finishers. Knoll was the second Division III finisher in the field as he finished 16th with a time of 25:41.6. Hall was just behind him in 21st, scoring 19 points, with a time of 25:59.0.

The spread between the top five finishers for the Diplomats was less than two minutes as Owen McCann (26:19.9) and Alex Miller (26:42.0) each broke the 27 minute barrier. Donnie Jellig was the team's fifth finisher with a time of 27:20.3, while Aiden Cotter (27:37.4) and Jake Naddelman (27:56.4) were the team's sixth and seventh runners. Each of the Diplomats' five scoring performances finished among the top 78 runners.

Also competing in the final tune up prior to the Centennial Conference Championship were Chris Mayo (28:37.4), George Williams (28:41.0), Holden Brown (29:47.2), Nick Trapani (30:58.6), and Jack Kelley (32:00.0).

The 2023 Centennial Conference Cross Country Championship will be hosted by McDaniel on Saturday, October 28. The men's 8,000 meter race will get started at 11 a.m. before the women toe the starting line at 12 p.m. noon.