LEBANON, Pa. - In its final tuneup before the MAC Championships, Eastern Men's Cross Country, despite holding some guys out, had a strong day of running at the LVC Last Chance Run Fast on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles placed fifth out of 10 scoring team with a score of 140.


Three Eagles finished with all-time best times in the race, all of whom were first years. Jonathan Beltran Garcia had Eastern's best finish on the day, placing 20th as an individual with a time of 28:32. Matthew Schilling finished in 29:06, good for 27th, while Christopher Baisden finished 33th with a time of 29:33.3.


"We had three first-year guys lead the front and show some great race maturity with big second half moves," Eastern Head Coach Kiehl Smith said. "Jon really stepped up and dropped over a minute of his PR. He showed a ton of growth. Once he stepped on the gas in the third mile, he never let up. I think this was an excellent way to build confidence that will help us pull up a deeper and closer knit 3-10 at MACs."


The 2024 MAC Cross Country Championships will be held in Grantham next Saturday beginning at 11:00 am.