Oct. 9, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.: October 9, 2007 - In their toughest test so far this season, the Nittany Lion cross country teams will host the Penn State National Invite this Friday, which will feature a pair of competitive collegiate races. The women's competition begins at 10 a.m., followed by the men's at 11 a.m., at the Penn State Blue and White Golf Courses.
About the Meet:
What: Penn State National Invite
Where: University Park, Pa. (Blue/White Golf Course)
When: Friday, October 12; College Women - 10 a.m.; College Men - 11 a.m.
Race Distance: Women - 6K; Men - 5.2 Miles
- Men's Program
- Men's Program
Spectator Advisories: View Parking Map
Spectators will be accommodated in 3 areas; first will be Red A (off Atherton), second will be the Nittany Deck, third will be East Deck. Permits will be sold those wishing to park in Red A as capacity allows. Competing teams and officials will have first priority in Red A. Spectators will be allowed to enter the Nittany Deck and pay the $1.00 per hour fee, again we will allow as many as possible until we reach capacity. The East Deck will be the third choice. Spectators will pay the $1.00 per fee for parking. Spectators are encouraged to allow some extra time to get to the event because they may need to park at the East Deck and take the Red Link bus back to Red A. The Red Link is a free bus service that will transport spectators to and from Red A. The bus stop is located on Curtin Road in front of Curtin Hall.The Competition:
Men's Teams (National Rank, Region, Regional Rank)
Akron (Great Lakes, No. 15)
Bloomsburg (DII East, No. 5)
Cornell (Northeast, No. 6)
Cortland State (DIII, No. 5)
George Mason (Southeast, No. 13)
Guelph (CIS, No. 1)
Kentucky (Southeast, No. 9)
LaSalle (Mid-Atlantic, No. 7)
Lehigh (Mid-Atlantic, No. 13)
Lock Haven (DII, No. 17)
Oklahoma (Midwest, No. 7)
Penn State (Mid-Atlantic, No. 4)
Pittsburgh (Mid-Atlantic, No. 11)
Quinnipiac (Northeast, No. 14)
Rider
St. Francis (Pa.)
Slippery Rock (DII No. 8)
Syracuse (Northeast, No. 3)
Wake Forest (Southeast, No. 10)Women's Teams (National Rank, Region, Regional Rank)
Bloomsburg (DII East, No. 2)
Brown (Northeast, No. 7)
Clarion (DII East, No. 8)
Connecticut (Northeast, No. 14)
Cornell (Northeast, No. 5)
Cortland State (DIII Atlantic, No. 6)
Duke (No. 17; Southeast, No. 1)
Guelph (CIS, No. 1)
Kentucky (Southeast, No. 5)
LaSalle (Mid-Atlantic, No. 7)
Lehigh (Mid-Atlantic, No. 15)
Lock Haven (DII East, No. 9)
New Hampshire (Northeast, No. 12)
Oklahoma (Midwest, No. 14)
Penn State (No. 30; Mid-Atlantic, No. 4)
Pittsburgh (Mid-Atlantic; No. 11)
Quinnipiac (Northeast, No. 8)
Rider
St. Francis (Pa.)
Slippery Rock (DII East, No. 4)
South Carolina
Syracuse (ORV; Northeast, No. 4)
Tennessee (South, No. 4)
Villanova (Mid-Atlantic, No. 6)
Wake Forest (Southeast, No. 6)
West Virginia (No. 21; Mid-Atlantic, No. 3)ORV - Others Receiving Votes in National USTFCCCA Poll
National Invite History:
Over the past several years, the Penn State National Invite has welcomed some of the top distance-running talent in the nation to Happy Valley. The meet, which has typically been run on the same weekend as NCAA Pre-Nationals, has consistently featured nationally-ranked programs and top individuals in one of the most competitive events of the cross country season. In fact, most of the top times ever run on the Blue and White Golf Courses have been clocked at the National Invite, including Kim Smith's 6000-meter course record 19:46. Smith, a multiple-time NCAA champ while at Providence, won the race in 2003 and 2004. Providence also won three-straight team titles, winning in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Duke captured the team title in 2005, with Blue Devil Shannon Rowbury taking individual honors in 20:34. On the men's side, Martin Fagan, also of Providence, ran 24:56 to win the 2005 competition, also the second-fastest time ever run on the Nittany Lion's 5.2 mile course.Results:
Results will be posted onwww.GoPSUsports.com at the conclusion of the event.Women's Preview:
This year's Penn State National Invite looks to be one of the nation's top competitions of the 2007 season, as the women's meet will feature a handful of nationally ranked teams and provide a high level of inter-regional action - right here in Happy Valley. Host Penn State enters the weekend ranked 30th , coming off three team victories this year, including wins at the Iona Meet of Champions and Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational. Leading the way is standout sophomore Bridget Franek, whose early season performances have already led to two Big Ten Runner of the Week citations. Franek has been the Nittany Lions' top finisher in every race this season, including individual victories at the Lock Haven Dolan Duals and Spiked Shoe. Looking to give Franek a run for her money this weekend will likely be Duke's Maddy McKeever, an NCAA All-American at 5000-meters, Sarah Bowman, a multiple-time All-American from the University of Tennessee, Oklahoma's Jessica Eldridge, last season's 18th-place finisher at NCAA Cross Country, and West Virginia's Marie-Louise Asselin, who took third at the Paul Short Run two weeks ago. Also coming into the weekend with outstanding resumes are Rachel Papin of LaSalle, Nicole Schappert of Wake Forest, Guelph's Lindsay Carson, Brown's Megan Fitzpatrick, and Miesha Marzell, a former standout at Georgetown and last season's National Invite Champion. Team wise, 17th ranked Duke looks to be the squad to beat, with No. 21 West Virginia and No. 30 Penn State ready to contend for the team title. Syracuse, which has consistently received votes in the USTFCCCA poll this fall and last year's National Invite winners, will also be in attendance.Men's Preview:
Coming off a second-place finish at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational two weeks ago, the Nittany Lion men's cross country squad is poised and ready to go after the team title against a challenge field at Friday's Penn State National Invite. Leading the way for the Lions are Spiked Shoe indivudal champ Brian Fuller and freshman Lucas Zarzeczny. Fuller and Zarzeczny have been named Big Ten Runners of the Week already this fall, and will both likely be in the running for the individual title. Standing in the way of the Nittany Lions, however, will be solid squads from Cornell, Wake Forest, Oklahoma and LaSalle. The Nittany Lions opened the season with a win at the Lock Haven Dolan Duals, following the victory up with a third-place effort at the challenging Iona Meet of Champions at Van Cortlandt Park, in the Bronx, N.Y. The Lions then finished runner-up to a talented Columbia squad at Spiked Shoe.Last Year's Penn State National:
Syracuse claimed victories in both the men's and women's competitions at last year's Penn State National. Individually, Miesha Marzell, running unattached, took the women's title, while Lock Haven's Ryan Blood was the men's winner. Bridget Franek was Penn State's top finisher in second place, while Dan Mazzocco's runner-up effort was tops for the Lion men.:: Nittany Lion Notes ::
National Notice :: Current Rankings
On the heels of a first-place finish at the Iona Meet of Champions on Sept. 22, the Penn State women's cross country team made its way into the this week's United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll for the first time this season, entering the rankings in 29th. Going into this weekend, the Lions stand in 30th in the weekly poll.Second Sweep :: Nittany Lion cross country standouts Bridget Franek and Lucas Zarzeczny were named Big Ten Runners of the Week on Tuesday, Sept. 25, the second citation of the season for Franek, and the first-career honor for Zarzeczny. It is also the second time this fall that the Nittany Lions have swept the conference's weekly awards.
Athlete Accolades :: Both Bridget Franek and Brian Fuller were named Big Ten Runners of the Week following their outstanding performances at the Lock Haven Dolan Duals on August 31. Franek would also be named Penn State Female Athlete of the Week for her efforts.
Captains Named :: After a team vote, senior Teddy Quinn, and juniors Tyler McCandless and Brian Fuller were declared captains for the Nittany Lion men's team, while senior Sonja Hinish will captain the women's squad.
At the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational :: Spiked Shoe Recap
The 29th-ranked Nittany Lion women's cross country team won its second team title in as many weeks, capturing top honors at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational, Saturday at Penn State Blue/White Golf Course. Sophomore Bridget Franek led the Lion women with an individual win, while junior Brian Fuller cruised to victory on the men's side, helping the Lions to a second-place finish. Fuller notched his second win of the season, as well as the second of his career, with a time of 23:39 for 5.2 miles. Franek clocked 21:02 to break the tape on the 6,000-meter course - the second-fastest time ever run at the Spiked Shoe event. Fuller is the 10th Nittany Lion to win the individual men's title in the 29-year history of the Spiked Shoe. Freshman Lucas Zarzeczny took second overall with a furious finishing kick, running 26:48.At the Iona Meet of Champions :: Iona Recap
The Nittany Lion women's cross country team posted a first-place finish, while the men's team managed a third-place effort at the John "Paddy" Doyle Meet of Champions, hosted by Iona College at Van Cortlandt Park. Leading the way for the Lions were sophomore Bridget Franek and freshman Lucas Zarzeczny. Franek finished the 6000-meter course in 21:51.0, good for fifth overall and third in the team scoring. Turning in an outstanding effort was redshirt-freshman Leah Rosenfeld, who ran 22:17.6 in her first collegiate 6K, to finish ninth. Zarzeczny ran a sensational race in his first-career 8000-meters to place eighth overall with a time of 25:35.2. Tyler McCandless and Dennis O'Connor ran two-three for the Lions, finishing in 17th, and 19th, in 25:58.2, 26:00.2, respectively.At the Lock Haven Dolan Duals :: Lock Haven Recap
Earlier this month, the Lions dominated the competition at the Dolan Duals at Lock Haven, as both teams posted perfect scores behind winning efforts from Franek and Fuller. On the women's side, Spring, Rosenfeld, and Claire Percival finished within 12 seconds of one another in the 2-3-4 slots. Junior Kathryn Fitzgerald rounded out the Lion top five. Fuller and Quinn posted the one-two finish in the men's race, with Zarzeczny finishing less than two seconds behind. Dennis Pollow and Dennis O'Connor closed out the scoring on the men's side, as the Nittany Lions finished with just a 20-second gap between their first and fifth runners.Next Up:
The Penn State National Invite will be the Lions' final tune up before heading to Columbus, Ohio, for the Big Ten Cross Country Championships. Competition is set for Sunday, Oct. 28.