BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's cross country team took part in the White Race of the prestigious Paul Short Run on Saturday afternoon. The event, hosted at Lehigh, welcomed top teams from across Divisions I, II, and III. The Diplomats placed 16th out of 32 teams during their race in what was their first 8,000 meter event on F&M's schedule after starting the year with back-to-back home meets. F&M's team score of 396 points earned a victory over Centennial Conference foe Muhlenberg, while Ursinus was the top Centennial team in this race that featured a trio of Centennial institutions.

Alfonso Knoll was the standout for Franklin & Marshall on Saturday as he placed 22nd in a field of 376 finishers. Knoll crossed the line with a time of 26:26.2 and improved his overall placement during every check point of the race. He was joined by three of his other teammates who placed among the top 100 finishers. Alex Miller placed 50th with a time of 27:05.9. He moved up 73 spots from when he was 123rd overall after the first mile of the race. Owen McCann (27:21.5) and Noah Hall (27:40.0) also broke the 28-minute mark with their respective 68th and 94th-place showings.

In 182nd place, Cole Smith came in under the 29-minute mark with a time of 28:45.8 as the team's fifth finisher. Aiden Cotter (29:19.8) and Donnie Jellig (29:21.3) were the Diplomats' sixth and seventh runners across the lines, recording back-to-back 228th and 229th place showings. Jake Naddelman also came in under 30 minutes with his time of 29:37.9, while George Williams posted a time of 30:18.3. Holden Brown (31:08.4) and Jack Kelley (34:03.5) showed great improvement throughout the 8K course as their positions also improved at each check throughout their afternoons.

Franklin & Marshall will now have one last regular season 8,000 meter race at Gettysburg on Saturday, October 14 before the postseason begins with the Centennial Conference Championships at the end of October. The upcoming race at Gettysburg is scheduled for an 10 a.m. start.