Penn State Club XC Continues Success at Princeton Invitational
By Mark Puleo
Just a week after opening their season in dominating fashion at the Lock Haven Invitational, Penn State Club Cross Country was back on the course this past Saturday in Princeton, New Jersey to prove their opening season success was no fluke.
And did they ever.
Appearing at the Princeton Invitational along with Penn State were 13 other clubs from around the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. Among the teams, three of the nation’s top-10 men’s and women’s teams were in attendance, meaning that another successful team performance wouldn’t be a cakewalk.
Toeing the line at 12:00 to kick off the invitational was the women’s team in the 6k. Despite the absence of Noemie Noullet (team’s second finisher at Lock Haven) running up front with Ariane Abadi, the women’s team was once again able to score a dominant number of low sticks to earn the team victory, edging second-place Princeton 39-45. Abadi took second overall in the race with a time of 23:57 and was followed by an impressive pair of freshmen performances from Sarah Almarzooqi and Suzanne Stein, who finished in seventh and eighth place respectively. Amy Mohler had a strong race in her season debut, finishing in 10th place while Baylee Robey finished just two seconds behind her in 12th place to round out the Nittany Lions’ scoring.
Kaitlyn Johnston, who finished in 28th place and serves as one of the women’s team’s workout chairs, was extremely impressed by her teammates’ performances.
“The girls team had an awesome race,” Johnston said. “Our top ten finished within the top 30 which was better than any other team and we looked really strong. Overall, the girls had an amazing race and everyone ran really well. Training has been very strong as well. We have a lot of girls participating in workouts and races which is exciting for our very young team. Though Princeton was a smaller race, I think we showed we are still going to have a strong presence this year despite losing a lot of seniors. I’m very excited to see how the rest of the season goes!”
Just a few minutes after the women’s race concluded, the men were on the starting line ready to defend their Lock Haven title and with a bit of vengeance in their minds. After a disappointing fourth-place finish at the Regional Meet held in Princeton last season, the men’s team was looking for a better result this year at the course.
Like the women’s team, the men were without their entire top-seven fleet from the previous week, as Lock Haven top finisher Max Petrosky was unable to attend. But in his void, numerous Nittany Lions had breakout races to make up, as the squad finished in second place behind Princeton.
Sophomore Dan Wilcko was the team’s top finisher, finishing in third place with a blazing time of 25:57. Just two spots behind him was Andrew Sell, proving that his debut race at Lock Haven wasn’t a case of beginners luck. The senior pair of Sam Lapp and John Lacy finished in third and fourth for the Lions (in 12th and 14th place) while sophomore Jacob Derlink had his first top-five finish in 18th place. Despite having better top-finishers than Princeton, the Tigers managed to score four top-10 finishers as they secured the team win.
But despite the second-place finish, workout chair Sam Masters (who finished in 26th with a time of 27:08) saw a lot of promise.
“The men’s team ran a spectacular race,” Masters said. “We had some returning guys show up and pull through for a good performance and some new people who are continuing to surprise us on their fitness. We were a little disappointed with 2nd, but we’d rather run a little tired now with solid training than trying to peak a third of the way into the season. We have a couple of weeks to prepare for Regionals and a month and a half to prepare for Nationals. I really like where we are as a team right now.”