KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- The Kutztown University men's cross country team turned in a strong performance on home turf at the annual KU DII/DIII Challenge Friday afternoon. The Golden Bears finished third out of the nine teams that ran the North Campus Farm Course.

Freshman Andrew Diehl (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle) continued his spectacular start to his collegiate running career, pacing the Golden Bears for the second-time this season with a 13th-place finish. Six places behind Diehl was Jack Hollar (East Stroudsburg, Pa./Pocono Mountain East), followed by another freshman in Mason English (Palmyra, Pa./Lower Dauphin) who finished 23rd.

The Golden Bears came across the line in three places apart following English. Port Habalar (Williamsport, Pa./South Williamsport) finished 26th, followed by Robbie Lloyd (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) in 29th, followed by Connor Murphy (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) in 32nd. Kayden Platania (Buena, N.J./Buena Regional) bucked the trend, finishing four places back in 36th. Cody Schabener (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) and Jacob Huber (Bethlehem, Pa./Saucon Valley) rounded out the Golden Bears to compete on the day, finishing 56th and 58th respectively.

Shippensburg won the race with only 17 pts., with six of the top seven runners being Raiders. DeSales finished second on the day with 54 pts. Wilmington (Del.), Bloomsburg, Georgian Court, Stevenson, Shepherd, and Gwynedd-Mercy finished in order behind KU. 

The Golden Bears have two weeks off before taking place in the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh. That race will take place on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 1:45 p.m. 

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KU DII/DIII Challenge
Friday, Sept. 15 | Kutztown, Pa.
8,000m | 96 runners

KUTZTOWN RESULTS
Team: 3rd/9 (106 pts.)

13. Andrew Diehl (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle), 27:04.9
19. Jack Hollar (East Stroudsburg, Pa./Pocono Mountain East), 27:46.4
23. Mason English (Palmyra, Pa./Lower Dauphin), 27:58.0
26. Port Habalar (Williamsport, Pa./South Williamsport), 28:03.1
29. Robbie Lloyd (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North), 28:09.6
32. Connor Murphy (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth), 28:17.8
36. Kayden Platania (Buena, N.J./Buena Regional), 28:50.0
56. Cody Schabener (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township), 30:03.0
58. Jacob Huber (Bethlehem, Pa./Saucon Valley), 30:17.2