EMMITSBURG, Md. (September 3, 2021) -- Sophomore Wondu Summa (Burlington, Vt.) flew past all the other competitors at the Mount St. Mary's 5k Duals on Friday, to take first place and lead the Franklin Pierce University men's cross country team to a third-place finish. Summa finished the 5k in 15:52 to pace the 78-runner field, while the Ravens took third out of six teams in the Old Line State. Despite the "Duals" name, the meet was scored via traditional collegiate cross country scoring rules, rather than via dual-meet rules.

For Summa, the victory came in his maiden collegiate cross country race.

The Ravens finished behind only a pair of Division I programs, as George Washington collected 25 points to finish first and Maryland-Baltimore County followed in second with 53 points. Franklin Pierce was 20 points farther back at 73 points, and the Ravens were 27 points clear of fourth-place and host Mount St. Mary's (100 points).

"Wondu is a special athlete and will no doubt rub shoulders with some of the region's very best runners if he continues to progress," said head coach Zach Emerson after the meet.

Following Summa, senior Riley Fenoff (Danville, Vt.) was the next Raven to cross the line. He claimed 13^th for his 16:35 time. Shortly behind was sophomore Ryan Outerbridge (Paget, Bermuda).  He raced a 16:44 time to claim 18^th.

They were followed by graduate student Sebastien Vicary (Ulceby, United Kingdom), who made it four Ravens in the top 20, as well as sophomore Thomas Darrah (Thetford, Vt.). They finished in 20^th with a time of 16:46 and 21^st for a 16:49 time, respectively, to round out Franklin Pierce's scoring five.

"Overall, it was a great season opener, and a mature effort considering it was our first cross country race in nearly two years," stated Emerson. "The course was largely impacted from the flooding and rain [from Ida], which made for very challenging conditions and slower-than-expected times, but none of us really cared about that. It was just so great to be doing what we love again."

Running across the line in 16:51 was sophomore Evan McNeice (Wethersfield, Conn.), who claimed 23^rd. Senior Will Aylward (Peabody, Mass.) claimed 27^th for a time of 16:56.

Also competing was sophomore Ryan Walker (Seabrook, N.H.), who took 30^th for his 17:02 time, and freshman Logan Mihelich (Northwood, N.H.), who claimed 33^rd for his 17:08 time in his collegiate debut. In 50^th was senior Cody Tallent (Bellows Falls, Vt.), who raced a 17:53 time and was followed by sophomore Mitchell Stokes (Worcester, Mass.) in 55^th for an 18:14 time. Sophomore Ntakirutimana Janvier (Burlington, Vt.) took 59^th for his 18:44 time, while freshman Michael Eggers-Emerson (Contoocook, N.H.) -- the head coach's son -- took 64^th in his collegiate debut for his 19:00 time.

Junior Ibrahim Ayyash (Worcester, Mass.) raced a time of 19:13 to take 67^th and freshman Cole Cooper (Northampton, N.H.) took 74^th for his 20:06 time. Freshman Cam Huck (Somerset, Mass.) raced a 20:21 time to take 75^th, and senior Jack Lang (Shelter Island, N.Y.) was 77^th with his 20:30 time to finish out the day for the Ravens.

The Ravens will be back at it on Saturday, Sept. 11 for the Smith College Invitational in Northampton, Mass.