ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Penn State men's and women's cross country teams ran well on a tough course at the Big Ten Championship meet on the University of Michigan Golf Course on Friday morning. The women's team finished sixth in the conference (159 team points) and the men placed ninth (262 points).
Head Coach John Gondak remarked on the team's gutsy performance in its first postseason meet of the 2022 season.
"I'm very proud of the way the women competed today. We were dealing with four individuals that were sick early in the week that impacted their performance today, but they fought really hard and saw significant improvement over our performance last year," Gondak said. "On the men's side, the Big Ten is extremely competitive in cross country again. We lined up five freshmen today and of our other four runners, only two had ever run at a Big Ten championship before in cross country and our youth and inexperience showed, as it has for most of the year. But [the men's team is] gaining valuable experience that's going to help them continue to improve as they grow in their careers at Penn State."
No. 23 Michigan State (78 points) took home the Big Ten title on the women's side, with No. 26 Michigan and No. 17 Wisconsin rounding out the top three. Addie Engel of No. 22 Ohio State won the individual championship with Katie Osika of Michigan State and Ericka VanderLende of Michigan coming in second and third, respectively.
No. 9 Wisconsin won the men's race and took home its fifth consecutive Big Ten Cross Country Championship, collecting just 25 points. No. 29 Michigan finished second (57 points) and Indiana was third (89 points). Wisconsin's Bob Liking won his second consecutive Big Ten individual title, with teammate Jackson Sharp finishing second and Indiana's Gabriel Sanchez coming in third.
The Penn State women were led by the duo of Kileigh Kane (20th, 20:46.0) and Faith DeMars (21st, 20:46.3), followed by the Nittany Lions' second pair of Sophia Toti (34th, 21:07.7) and Madaline Ullom (21:08.2) and capped off by Makenna Krebs (53rd, 21:23.5).
Kane and DeMars led the entire field through the first mile of the race. The second mile saw the top programs move up, and Penn State slotted into fifth place despite impressive negative splits from Kane and DeMars. In the third mile, No. 29 Northwestern edged out the Nittany Lions for the fifth position and held it through the finish line as Penn State finished sixth. Coach Gondak was pleased with the performance of the women's squad against a tough field of conference opponents on Friday.
"It's the Big Ten championship and we finished right behind five ranked teams, so I'm pleased with where the women are right now as we head into the regional championships," Gondak said.
For Penn State's men's squad, Brandon Hontz (39th, 24:59.6) was the top finisher, with Behailu Bekele-Arcuri (47th, 25:06.1) just seven seconds behind. Brendan Colwell (64th, 25:29.8), Jonah Powell (76th, 25:43.6), and Payton Sewall (84th, 25:52.5) rounded out the scorers for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State found itself in the tenth spot through the first and second miles, but the squad advanced past Minnesota in the third mile and held steady through the finish line, placing ninth. With five freshmen and two others who had never run in a Big Ten Championship cross country meet in the group for Penn State, a strong performance in the Big Ten Championships this year bodes well for not just the end of this season, but for the future of the squad as a whole.
Penn State Women's Top Five Results:
Points Runner Time
20 Kileigh Kane 20:46.0
21 Faith DeMars 20:46.3
34 Sophia Toti 21:07.7
35 Madaline Ullom 21:08.2
49 Makenna Krebs 21:23.8
Penn State Men's Top Five Results:
Points Runner Time
36 Brandon Hontz 24:59.1
40 Behailu Bekele-Arcuri 25:06.1
54 Brendan Colwell 25:29.8
63 Jonah Powell 25:43.6
69 Payton Sewall 25:52.5
What's Next
The Nittany Lions will return home to the Penn State Golf Courses on Friday, November 11 where they will host the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional meet.
For more coverage of Penn State men's and women's cross country and track and field, be sure to follow the program on Instagram (@PennStateTFXC) and Twitter (@PennStateTFXC) and "like" the Penn State Cross Country and Track & Field Page on Facebook.
