SHELBYVILLE, Ind. – The Penn State cross country team was back in action for the first time in over 430 days on Saturday at the Big Ten Cross Country Championship. The Nittany Lions and the rest of the programs competed on a cold Midwestern afternoon in Shelbyville, Indiana.
The No. 15 Nittany Lions women's team began competition at 12:30 with 6k race. Seven freshmen competed in their first collegiate race at the Big Ten championships on Saturday. The Penn State women's team ran to an eighth-place finish on the Blue River Cross Country Course. The Nittany Lions finished with 223 team points.
Freshman Faith DeMars ran to a 41st place finish as the top finisher for Penn State, clocking 21:38.6. DeMars was in the top 15 through the first half of the, turning in a negative split on two occasions during the 6k race. DeMars opened the race sitting ninth after the first 1k and 6th after 2k.
Rounding out the top five finishers for Penn State was freshman Sera Mazza (42nd – 21:40.2), freshman Katherine Fedko (45th – 21:45.4), junior Jordan Williams (48th – 21:52.0) and freshman Makenna Krebs (54th – 21:57.4).
The men's team followed with their 8k race at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The Nittany Lions placed eighth in the team standings with 203 points.
Evan Dorenkamp was the top finisher for the Nittany Lions with a 26th place finish. Dorenkamp ran 24.44.6, staying with the lead back for most of the race.
Senior Ben Bumgarner was the second Nittany Lion to cross the finish line, running 24:57.0 to place 34th.
The top five finishers were rounded out by Isaac Davis (47th), Alex Tomasko (52nd) and freshman Tanner Piotrowski (72nd).
Saturday's Big Ten Championship was the Nittany Lions lone competition of the year prior selections to the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Both programs will now await selections for the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships is scheduled for March 15.