Fitchburg State Performs At UMass Dartmouth

Men finish 15th out of 36 teams; women place 29th overall

FITCHBURG, Mass. (September 18, 2010) –The Fitchburg State men's and women's cross country teams were in action this afternoon as they competed at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational hosted by UMass Dartmouth. The men finished 15th out of 36 teams competing, while the women placed 29th overall.

CHRIS KIBLER

Junior Chris Kibler (Bath, Maine/Morse) was the top finisher for Fitchburg State, placing ninth overall with a blistering time of 25:02. Kibler set another program record time for the UMass Dartmouth terrain, besting the previous record of 25:40 set by Mike Churchill in 1982.

Senior Matt Spano (Gardner, Mass./Gardner) finished second on the Falcons men's squad, posting a time of 25:48, while sophomore Mike Grasela (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) cracked the Fitchburg State top three with a time of 27:35. Sophomore Will Lary (Winchendon, Mass./Murdock), freshman Chris Ross (Brookfield, Mass./Tantasqua Regional) and sophomore Pat Lucas (North Attleboro, Mass./Bishop Feehan) rounded out the top six with times of 27:57, 29:20 and 29:33 respectively.

On the ladies side, sophomore Emily Lane (Clinton, Conn./The Morgan School) continued her strong running, placing first overall for the Falcons team (140th overall) with a time of 20:57, while sophomore Katelyn Page (Beverly, Mass./Beverly) finished just two seconds later with a time of 20:59. Graduate Linda Fortunato (Feeding Hills, Mass./Agawam) also finished with a solid time of 21:22 on the 5K layout, while senior Erin Abbott (Warwick, Mass./Pioneer Valley), junior Lias Dias (Rehoboth, Mass./Dighton-Rehoboth) and classmate Katy Scott (Wilbraham, Mass./Wilbraham) posted times of 23:43, 24:09 and 25:09.

Fitchburg State will be back in action again next Saturday as it competes in the Worcester City Meet starting at 11 a.m.