UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State cross country program has announced its 2020 fall intrasquad schedule for the next month of intrasquad training. Head Coach John Gondak and Associate Head Coach Angela Reckart have constructed four fall team meets for the Nittany Lions to compete against each other and mimic a typical fall regular season.
Associate Head Coach Angela Reckart on the fall intrasquad schedule: "Coach Gondak and I are aiming to treat this fall as normal as possible by providing our student-athletes with opportunities to test themselves, compete and to show their fitness. We believe we have simulated a schedule that helps us accomplish this and keeps our student-athletes engaged while we continue to train for our next full season. We are also looking forward to having some fun race opportunities as its been about six months since most of us have toed the line to compete. We have been putting in some great work this summer and the past couple of weeks that we have been on campus, but it will definitely be good to get some of the rust off and race again."
"We will use the Blue/White Two-Mile Meet as a controlled effort to open our race season. The Harry Groves Intrasquad Cross Country Meet will provide us with an opportunity to race on our home cross country course, where we will be hosting the Big Ten Cross Country Championships next fall. We will then focus on the Penn State National Two-Mile Tune-Up as a hard effort to prepare for the Happy Valley 5k Time Trial. This 5k will allow our student-athletes with an opportunity to possibly achieve a personal best in the 5k race distance. They have all put in a lot of work since March and are eager to show their fitness. It should be a great fall and we are excited to kick things off next week."
The Nittany Lions four intrasquad meets will consist of the Blue/White Two-Mile Meet, Harry Groves Intrasquad Cross Country Meet, Penn State National Two-Mile Tune-Up and the Happy Valley 5k Time Trial.
Dates for meets cover September 25-October 30th all flexible due to weather conditions. Below is a breakdown of the four meets and dates for each.
September 25: Blue/White Two-Mile Meet
October 8: Harry Groves Intrasquad Cross Country Meet @ Blue/White Golf Course
October 16: Penn State National Two-Mile Tune-Up
October 30: Happy Valley 5k Time Trial
Penn State welcomed eight incoming student-athletes on the women's cross country team and three on the men's side. Gondak and Reckart have led the Nittany Lion women's squad to five consecutive top-20 finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, one of just seven schools to have finished in the top-20 each of the last five years.
The Nittany Lions have captured four of the last five NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional titles and Gondak was named NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Coach of the Year for the fourth time in the last five years. At the Big Ten Cross Country Championships in 2019, the men's and women's team both placed in the top five for the first time since 2010. The men's squad also won three consecutive meets to open the 2019 season.