HANOVER, Ind. – Following a wash out on opening weekend, the Franklin men's cross country team officially opened their season on Saturday (Sept. 10) afternoon when they took part in the Hanover Invitational.
 
Saturday's outing proved a successful one for the Grizzly men, as they put five runners in the top-25 and earned a runner-up finish with 76 points, besting all HCAC schools at the meet and finishing behind only Centre College.
 
Sophomore John Asplund put in a strong first race of the year, taking second overall in the 6K race with a time of 19:48.7. Junior Jack Sells finished second on the team and 16^th overall with a time of 21:06.4, finishing just ahead of 17^th place finisher Samuel Wilson (21:09.5) and 18^th place Elliott Gough (21:10.6). Freshman Riley Devening rounded out the scoring for Franklin with a 23^rd place finish in 21:20.3.
 
Freshman Trevor Newby took 21^st in 22:36.9 and Eli Cochrane placed 33^rd in 22:44.7. Also taking part in the race for FC were freshman Jonah Decker (22:48.6), senior Corbin Lee (23:20.9), junior Parker Mullins (23:53.6), freshman David Sieg (24:03.4), junior Drew McGaha (24:26.4), junior Noah McCracken (25:07.6), sophomore Tristan Konkler (25:55.9), junior Drew Hargis (26:00.7), junior Luke Paddock (26:07.1), senior Ethan Bequeret (28:37.1) and sophomore Tyjay Laster (28:56.0).
 
The Grizzlies are back on the course next Saturday (Sept. 17), traveling to Terre Haute, Ind. for the Indiana State McNichols Invite. Race time is set for 9:00 a.m.