Nov. 5, 2015
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By Zach Reagan, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" A complete team effort highlighted by several milestone running performances helped the Penn State women's cross country team ultimately win its first Big Ten team title since 2009 in Sunday's 2015 Big Ten Cross Country Championships.
The No. 15 Nittany Lions reigned superior of the field of Big Ten teams and edged No. 2 Michigan by a team score of 58-53 at the Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course in Chicago, Ill.
The outstanding achievement was made possible with phenomenal individual performances from both the young and veteran athletes on the team. Four women Nittany Lion runners finished in the Top 12. Senior team captain Tori Gerlach led the way for the Nittany Lions all year and she did it once again by finishing 4th in the field.
"This was Tori's best race of her career at a conference cross country championship," said second-year head cross country coach John Gondak.
Sophomores Elizabeth Chikotas (6th) and Jillian Hunsberger (9th) each posted Top 10 finishes. Rounding out the team's scoring was redshirt freshman Tessa Barrett with a 12th place finish and junior Julie Kocjancic with a 22nd place finish.
Gondak has been looking for runners that could round out the scoring all year and he got that this past weekend when it mattered the most.
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