The top three was the mission. Consider it accomplished.

Franklin men's cross country began the season with a goal of landing in the top three at the HCAC Championships. On Saturday afternoon, the Grizzlies took care of business with an impressive third-place showing.

The Grizzlies totaled 73 points, putting them behind Rose-Hulman (25) and Manchester (53) and comfortably ahead of fourth-place Hanover (105). Manchester's Gavin Byerly was the individual champion; Rose-Hulman had nine of the next 11 finishers.

"I'm really happy with how we ran," Griz coach Brandon Dworak said. "All the way through, the guys executed well, and we're happy with that result."

Sophomore William Hirsch set the pace for Franklin, finishing in sixth place with a time of 26:31.24 to earn an All-HCAC spot. He was joined on the all-conference team by senior Riley Devening, who was 14th in 27:16.18.

"Given the windy conditions, I think we took advantage of it the best that we could," Hirsch said after moving up 10 spots from his 16th-place finish as a freshman.

Two other Griz seniors earned honorable mention all-conference designation: Jonah Decker, who crossed the line 15th in 27:16.84, and Sam Wilson, who was 20th in 27:23.24.

Zachary Schroeder was the fifth and final scoring Grizzly, running a 28:28.30 to finish 37th. He was followed by Andre Davis (46th), Kai Sheley (47th) and Finnegan Adams (50th). Rounding out the Franklin group were Nathan Furnish (57th), Austin Menefee (74th) and Bo Lachnit (76th).

The Grizzlies will try to keep the good times rolling in two weeks (Nov. 15), when they travel to Louisville's Tom Sawyer Park to compete at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional — and beyond that as well.

"I think with this momentum, we can carry that into track season and chase some big goals, some more school records, just chase success," Hirsch said.