Top-Five Finishes for Both Cross Country Teams at Big Ten ChampionshipsTop-Five Finishes for Both Cross Country Teams at Big Ten Championships
Walt Middleton Photography 2019

Top-Five Finishes for Both Cross Country Teams at Big Ten Championships

Opens in a new window Men's Results - Big Ten Championships Opens in a new window Women's Results - Big Ten Championships

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Both Penn State cross country teams turned in top-five finishes at the Big Ten Cross Country Championships on Sunday, November 3. The women's team placed fourth and the men's team placed fifth on Sunday in Columbus. This marked the first time since 2010 that both teams placed in the top five at the Big Ten Cross Country Championships.

The men's 8k race kicked off the day on a chilly morning at the Ohio State Golf Course. The group mentality of the men's program was on display from the very beginning of the race. Through 1000m Billy McDevitt, Ben Bumgarner and Isaac Davis all ran in the top 25. The Nittany Lions top runners continued to stay grouped together through the next 3000m.

At the midway point of the race, Billy McDevitt led Nittany Lions as he ran in 22nd place. McDevitt was followed closely by Andrew Sell, Ben Bumgarner and Isaac Davis through 4000m.

The final 4000m saw the Nittany Lions remain tightly packed and finish fifth in the team standings with 169 points. Alex Tomasko was the Nittany Lions top finisher, running 24.44.8 to finish 28th. Billy McDevitt was the second Nittany Lion to cross the finish line in a time of 24:46.3. McDevitt finished 30th. Ben Bumgarner finished 32nd (24:47.9) followed by Andrew Sell in 38th (24:51.8) and Owen Wing in 41st (24:52.8). The four teams that finished above Penn State all were ranked in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll (#14 Wisconsin, #13 Indiana, #17 Michigan and #9 Purdue).

The men's fifth-place finish was the highest finish since 2014 when the Nittany Lions finished third.
 



On the women's side, Kathryn Munks continued to pace the Nittany Lions. Munks ran to second team All-Big Ten honors with an 11th-place finish. Munks and the Nittany Lions finished fourth with a team score of 138 points. The Nittany Lions have finished in the top five each of the last five seasons and brought home the Big Ten championship in 2015.

The women's race featured some of the top cross country teams in the entire country. Including Penn State, the field featured eight teams currently in the top 25 in the latest USTFCCCA poll. The three teams that finished ahead of Penn State were all ranked in the top 10 in the latest poll (#9 Michigan State, #7 Wisconsin and #8 Michigan). The Nittany Lions outran four other teams currently ranked in the top 25 (#19 Illinois, #21 Ohio State, #23 Indiana and #24 Minnesota).
 



Munks began to make her move to the front of the pack after the first 1000m of the race as she jumped from 60th to 15th at the 2000m mark. Munks remained with the lead pack for the remainder of the race.

Danae Rivers was the second finisher for the Nittany Lions, running 20:56.3 to finish 20th. Alison Willingmyre finished shortly after Rivers, running 21:02.2 and finished 25th.

Megan Ciasullo (21:15.3) and Julia Paternain (21:19.2) finished 40th and 44th respectively to round out the top-five finishers for Penn State. 

The Nittany Lions next run at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional hosted by Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa.