Men's Results | Women's Results
Oct. 18, 2014
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Freshman Elizabeth Chikotas (Hellertown, Pa.) ran to an eighth-place finish to lead the Nittany Lion women to a 10th-place finish and Glen Burkhardt (Kennett Square, Pa.) posted a 36th-place finish to pace the Nittany Lion men as they tied for eighth-place Saturday at the Pre-National Invitational at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind.
The women's 6k Blue race featured four of the top-eight teams in the country and the men's 8k Blue race featured the top-two teams in the land along with six other ranked teams.
In a deep field with some of the nation's best female cross country runners, Chikotas was able hang tough and battle to an eighth-place finish with her time of 21 minutes, 00.9 seconds. Chikotas was near the top-10 during the majority of the race, as she was 14th (10:18.3) at the 3k split and 12th (13:50.2) at the 4k split.
The second Nittany Lion to complete the 6,000-meter course was Tori Gerlach (Perkasie, Pa.). Gerlach crossed the finish line with her time of 21:33.2 to finish 47th. Thirteen seconds after Gerlach was done, Jillian Hunsberger (Pittsburgh, Pa.) placed 67th (21:46.2).
Abbie Benson (Elma, N.Y.) and Stephanie Aldrich (West Chester, Pa.) rounded out the scoring for the Nittany Lion women as they finished 131st (22:18.1) and 152nd (22:23.4), respectively.
Also competing for Penn State was Katie Rodden (Ardmore, Pa.) (161st/22.29.5) and Lauren Mills (West Chester, Pa.) (210th/22.49.4).
In the men's 8,000-meter run, Burkhardt paced the Nittany Lion men as he completed the course in 24:53.2 to finish 36th. Burkhardt was in 50th (6:01.6) at the 2k split and heading into the final 3k of the course he was in 41st (15:33.2).
Finishing within three seconds of each other was Matt Fischer (Kennett Square, Pa.) and Ean DiSilvio (Pittsburgh, Pa.). Fischer placed 59th with a time of 25:11.2 and DiSilvio posted a time of 25:14.0 to take 66th.
Wade Endress (Altoona, Pa.) and Robby Creese (Mount Airy, Md.) were the fourth and fifth Nittany Lion men to finish the race. Endress tallied a time of 25:23.4 to place 91st and Creese clocked in at 25:31.9 to claim 111th.
Anthony Russell (West Chester, Pa.) and Conner Quinn (Horsham, Pa.) finished 222nd (26:18.4) and 263rd (26:42.0), respectively.
As a team, the Penn State women finished 10th with their score of 405 points, while No. 4 Georgetown won the 6k Blue race with their score of 110 points. The Penn State women defeated Northern Arizona (11th) and Butler (29th), both of which were receiving votes in the latest national coaches' poll.
In the men's race, Penn State tied for eighth with their score of 363 points. No. 1 Colorado cruised to the team title with their score of 35 points.
The Nittany Lions do not compete next weekend as they prepare for the Big Ten Cross Country Championships (Nov. 2). The 2014 Big Ten Cross Country Championships are hosted by the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, at the Ashton Cross Country Course.
For more on Nittany Lion cross country, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.