Men's Cross Country | September 4, 2015

PHILADELPHIA- The La Salle men's cross country team looks to earn its away back onto the podium at the Atlantic 10 Championships this season with a mix of returning talent and newcomers poised to make an immediate impact.
 
Redshirt senior Ian Barnhill returns to the mix this season after missing last season with injury. The Downingtown, Pa. native finished 12^th at the 2013 Atlantic 10 Championship before redshirting last season. La Salle also returns five of seven scorers from last season's team. The top returner is junior Bradley Heuer who was the second Explorer to finish last season at the Atlantic 10 Championships and the 35^th overall.
 
"We bring back Ian Barnhill who two years ago was 12th at A-10s," said head coach Tom Peterson. "He was injured last year so we redshirted him to prepare for this year. He is back and he trained really hard over the summer and has been pining over cross country for two years. Brad Heuer is coming off a very strong spring. He really made some headway in his training and competing. He worked extremely hard over the summer. We bring back a slew of familiar faces but a new attitude. Last year we sat down and laid out some goals. I challenged them that if the goal is to win the A-10 title, to walk out of Richmond with a trophy, there is a certain amount of work that goes into that and they defiantly put in that work."
 
La Salle also welcomes in a large group of newcomers with five freshmen on the roster as well as two transfers. Graduate student Nick Libbi joins the Explorers after graduating from Shippensburg, where he helped the team qualify for the NCAA Championships during the 2013 season. Also joining the team is sophomore Dylan Titon who earned Atlantic Sun All-Freshman Team honors during his only season at Kennesaw State.
 
"We lose some guys but we bring in new guys with a lot of experience," added Peterson. "We bring in Nick Libbi who will be a graduate student for us with one year of eligibility remaining. He is coming to us from Shippensburg and he will be a big contributor early on. We also have Dylan Titon who is a native Italian. He comes to us from Kennesaw State and comes in as a sophomore. He has a good bit of international running experience and a year of collegiate running experience. Those two guys will be contributing factors right away to our team."
 
La Salle opens its season with four straight local meets beginning with the Lehigh Invite on Friday September 4 in Bethlehem, Pa. The Explorers will also run at the Friends Big Fie Invite, Main Line Invitational, and Paul Short Run before hitting the road for the Greater Louisville Classic. The Atlantic 10 Championships will be on October 31 in Mechanicsville, Va. at Pole Green Park.