Women's Cross Country Wins Mid-Atlantic RegionalWomen's Cross Country Wins Mid-Atlantic Regional
Walt Middleton Photography 2019

Women's Cross Country Wins Mid-Atlantic Regional

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Penn State women's cross country program captured its fourth NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional championship in the last five years on Friday, November 15. Led by senior Kathryn Munks who placed second, the Nittany Lions finished with a score of 73 points. The Nittany Lions edged Villanova who finished second with 77 points.

Munks continued her fantastic season and ran 20:10.7 as the top finisher for the Nittany Lions. Munks consistency throughout the race kept her at the front of the pack for the entire 6k race. This consistency from Munks set the tone for the rest of the Nittany Lions.

Following closely behind was senior Danae Rivers. Rivers remained in the top 15 throughout the race. Rivers kicked into another gear during the final 2,000m of the race and moved from 12th to sixth. Rivers crossed the finish line in a time of 20:23.8

The pack mentality carried over to Julia Paternain and Alison Willingmyre who each finished in the top 15. Paternain ran a season-best 20:31.6 to finish ninth. Willingmyre finished closely behind Paternain, as she crossed the finish line in a time of 20:39.9 as the fourth finisher for Penn State.

Megan Ciasullo was the final finisher for the women's team, clocking a time of 21:05.8. The Nittany Lions group finish led Penn State to its fourth Mid-Atlantic title in the last five seasons.

Kaite Munks, Danae Rivers, Julia Paternain and Alison Willingmyre each earned all-region honors by finishing in the top 25.

The women's cross country team advances to the NCAA finals for the 10th time in the last 11 years. This is the fifth-consecutive season the Nittany Lions will run at the NCAA Championships.

Head coach John Gondak said the following of his team's regional championship:

"All season long our women have raced very well. We had this date circled on our calendar to focus on. If you look at the schedule we set up this year, we didn't travel all over the country to try and chase points. We were really focused on coming here and trying to be one of the top two teams to advance onto nationals. The ladies raced like champions today and held off a really tough Villanova team to pull out the victory."

"Our women's cross country program has consistently been one of the top programs in the Big Ten. In 10 of the last 11 years we've been in the top four at the Big Ten Championships and been at the national championships over that same stretch. I think it just shows that the women expect success. When you expect every year to be successful, great things happen. I'm proud of how they raced today and proud of how they trained this season and we are looking forward to finishing things off next weekend."
 



On the men's side, the Nittany Lions finished sixth overall at the regional meet.

Alex Tomasko was the top finisher for Penn State, running 30:38.4 in the 10k race. Tomasko earned all-region honors for the second-straight season.

Andrew Sell and Billy McDevitt were the next two finishers for Penn State, finishing 30th and 31st respectively. Sell ran a personal-best 31:00.7 and McDevitt also turned in a personal-best mark of 31:02.6. Chris Hughes (31:12.0) finished 37th and Owen Wing (31:22.8) placed 41st to round of the team scoring.

"The race today started in an unusual style and was faster than usual for the first half of the race. Our guys responded well to that...Overall we had a phenomenal season. We finished the best we have at the Big Ten meet since 2013. I am really proud of the season they put together this year." Gondak added about the men's program.