By By Kirby Morrison, News Staff

The men’s and women’s cross country teams saw strong performances from a pair of freshmen as they ran the Boston University Invitational Sept. 20 in Franklin Park. Northeastern also got a preview of the same course that will host the New England Championship Oct. 10 at noon.
The Huskies sent out their B squad for the race and were pleasently surprised with the results. Freshmen John Jantz and Madeline Wrable finished 21st and 30th respectively in their races. The men’s field contained 79 runners while the women’s field included 97.
‘We had a really good performance from freshman John Jantz. He may have raced his way onto the varsity, which is a real good sign seeing the freshmen stepping up,’ assistant coach Renny Waldron said. Jantz finished the 8k course with a time of 25:57.
‘I was pretty happy with my result, but today I’m going to celebrate and tomorrow it’s back to the track,’ Jantz said. ‘I wanted to break 26 minutes and I did that. I would really be honored to race in [the New England Championships].’
Waldron was also pleased with the showing of Wrable, who finished the 5k course with a time of 19:36.
‘Madeline Wrable is in the same position [as Jantz]. She had a really good race and may have raced herself up to varsity as well,’ Waldron said.
Marist College sophomore Adam Vess won the race with a time of 24:55, 12 seconds faster than second-place finisher Eric Ashe from BU. Husky senior Dan Clayton took 59th place with a time of 27:23 while freshman Chris Mentas and junior Kyle Audet finished 62nd and 68th respectively. Audet narrowly edged out fellow Husky freshman Steve Francis who finished in 69th place, just one second after Audet.
Freshmen Joseph Curreri and Luke Malley shared more than just a ride home from the Franklin Park course as they both left with 72nd place after finishing in 28:07. Freshman Jonathon Lampron finished the course in 28:13, grabbing 74th place and junior Matt Webber finished in 77th place with a time of 28:30.
Boston University senior Andrea Walkonen dominated on the women’s side finishing with a time of 17:40, 50 seconds faster than any other runner in the field. Husky freshman Karissa Mako grabbed 45th place with a time of 20:16 in her first collegiate race.
Freshman Eryn Wheeler ran the course in 20:45, taking 53rd place while sophomore Lindsay Kosinski earned bragging rights over freshman teammate Laura Coyne as they finished just two seconds apart; earning 59th and 60th place respectively.
Sophomore Christina Gallagher narrowly outran freshman Kathleen Keen as they finished just one second apart for finishes of 63rd and 64th place. Freshman Lauren Ward finished the course in 21:45, which was good for 67th place while classmate Christine Hall finished in 74th place with a time of 22:26.
‘We’re really looking forward to the New England Championships,’ coach Waldron said after some impressive performances from freshmen Jantz and Wrable.
Northeastern will head to the Franklin Park course Oct. 10 for the New England Championship. Sophomore Teddy Vrountas will look for another strong performance this year after finishing 23rd in last year’s championship with a time of 25:16.