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The 2001 Moravian men's cross country team finished the season with a seventh place finish at the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships hosted by Messiah College and a 16th place showing at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional run on the campus of Lehigh University.
Head coach Mark Will-Weber, who completed his 15th season at the helm, had his squad off to a fast start this season, placing fifth at the Kutztown University Maroon & Gold Invitational and then third at the Lehigh Valley Championships, losing to only NCAA Division I Lehigh and Lafayette College. However, injuries limited the Greyhounds at the end of the season with several runners missing races.
Junior George Wacker (Honesdale, PA/Honesdale HS) led the Greyhounds at the MAC Championships with a 22nd place finish in 28:12.90. Wacker was 67th at the NCAA Mideast Regional and had his best time of the season at the Paul Short Invitational hosted by Lehigh, finishing the 8,000-meter course in 27:16.67.
Freshman Patrick Grogan (Nazareth, PA/Notre Dame HS) was Moravian's top runner at the Mideast Regional, placing 60th in 27:37.40. Grogan was 44th at the MAC Championships and his best run of the years was also in the Paul Short Invitational at 26:39.94. Sophomore Joe Grady (Nanticoke, PA/Nanticoke HS) was in the top ten at the MAC Championships before a stress fracture to his foot in the middle of the race caused him to place 61st. Grady had run 26:36.02 as his best race in the Paul Short Invitational.
Senior Chris DeWalt (Easton, PA/Easton HS) was 42nd at the conference championships and 81st in the regional meet while running a season best time of 28:42.64 at the Paul Short Invitational. Junior Matt Plewinski (Hatfield, PA/North Penn HS) was 65th at the MAC race and 167th in the Mideast Regional while sophomore Sean McDonnell (Scranton, PA/Scranton Prep HS) was 66th and 175th respectively. Plewinski ran 28:54.8 at the Lehigh Valley Championships while McDonnell's best race was the Paul Short Invitational in 29:02.34.
Sophomore Marty Miller (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) placed 47th at the MAC Championships but an injury kept him out of the regional race. Miller ran 28:26.44 at the Paul Short Invitational while junior Justin Arnold (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge HS) ran a time of 29:19.76 in the same race. Arnold, who was a member of the 2001 MAC Fall All-Academic Team, placed 69th in the conference meet and 132nd in the regional race.
Freshman Matt Oertner (Slatington, PA/Northern Lehigh HS) started the season running well and had a time of 28:28.6 at the Lehigh Valley Championships but he missed the last three meets of the season due to an injury. Freshman Anthony Bisti (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddon Heights HS) rounded out the Moravian squad with a season best time of 32:31.90 at the MAC Championships.
Coach Will-Weber only loses one runner of this season's squad and hopes a strong recruiting class will help the Greyhounds challenge for the MAC title in 2002.
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