LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Penn State cross country team opened the 2021 season with pair of races at Lock Haven's Dolan Duals.
"I want to thank Lock Haven for hosting the Dolan Duals," Head Coach John Gondak said. "They are always great hosts and this is a good way for us to start off the cross country season. It was our first competition in 22 months, and it was really great to see our student-athletes back out there in uniform."
The Nittany Lions saw success in both the men's and women's races, with newcomers claiming victories in both competitions.
The day opened with the women's race, where freshman Allison Johnson earned the win in her collegiate debut with a time of 14:14.0. She was followed by Madaline Ullom (14:18.4), Sophia Toti (14:21.1), Cori McCormick (14:26.8), and Makenna Krebs (14:30.9). Nittany Lions took the top eight spots in the race.
On the men's side, graduate transfer Eric Hamel cross the line first in his first race in the blue and white. The Western Washington transfer led the way with a time of 18:01.0 was followed by Evan Dorenkamp (18:11.0), Alex Tomasko (18:13.7), Isaac Davis (18:30.4) and Colin Waters (18:31.0).
"The goal today was to run as a pack through first half and test each other in the second half. Both of our teams did that with great success. Our women had our top seven finish within 22 seconds and the men had our top 12 finish within 50 seconds of each other. It showed great depth to open the year. We are looking forward to getting back on our home course next week at the Spiked Shoe Invitational."
The meet was Penn State's first regular season meet since 2019, as the 2020 regular season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nittany Lions will be back in action on September 10 when they host the Spiked Shoe Invitational at the Penn State Golf Course.