MADISON, Wis. – Both of Penn State's cross country teams posted their highest team finishes at the Big Ten Championships since the 2019 season with the women's group coming in fourth place overall (136 points) and the men's squad placing sixth (166 points) on Friday afternoon in Wisconsin.
"Very proud of both programs and how they competed today," said Head Coach John Gondak. "To come away with fourth and sixth-place finishes shows the work the student-athletes are putting in to keep the program moving forward.
This core group of women placed 10th two years ago, sixth last year, and now fourth—and most all of them will return next year. The men's sixth-place finish is our best since 2019 and with how young the group is, shows the bright future ahead for them.
Maddie, Florence and Kileigh ran amazing races and helped the women's team to a 4th place finish. The All-Big Ten honors for these three reflect very well on the hard work they've put in to get themselves, and the team, to this position."
The Nittany Lions' women's team, led by First Team All-Big Ten honoree Maddie Ullom (6th place) and Second Team All-Big Ten runners Florence Caron (11th place) and Kileigh Kane (13th place), consistently had members of its team in the lead pack all race long as the group pushed Penn State to its fourth-overall result. Ullom's First Team finish marks the first First Team All-Big Ten honor for the Nittany Lion women since Jillian Hunsberger in 2017. Furthermore, the three All-Big Ten individual awards for the Nittany Lion women mark the largest total of individual All-Conference honors the women's team has earned since it collected three-such plaudits in 2016.
The men's team was once again led by redshirt senior Evan Dorenkamp, who came in 17th place. True freshman Brian DiCola performed well in his first Big Ten Championship race, placing 23rd-overall as Penn State's second finisher.
WOMEN'S 6K CHAMPIONSHIP RACE
Ullom led the Penn State women through the line in Wisconsin, her second time in a row at the top of Penn State's women's team. The senior placed sixth overall and earned Penn State's first of three All-Big Ten honors for Penn State this season. Caron placed 11th and Kane came in 13th, both collecting Second Team All-Big Ten recognition. Sophomore Charlotte Costich placed inside Penn State's top five for the first time in her career, finishing fourth at 22:37.5. True freshman Claire Zubey rounded out the Nittany Lions' top-five finishers, crossing the line in 22:40.9
No. 15 Michigan State claimed the team title with 46 points and No. 22 Wisconsin finished second with 81 points. Michigan came in third with 102 points, followed by Penn State (136) and Ohio State (154 points) in the top five.
Penn State Women's Top Seven Results (136 pts):
Place (Points) Runner Time
6 (6) Maddie Ullom 21:12.6
11 (11) Florence Caron 21:32.6
13 (13) Kileigh Kane 21:36.4
57 (52) Charlotte Costich 22:37.5
59 (54) Claire Zubey 22:40.9
63 Lea Hatcher 22:45.1
76 Sarah Pickering 22:55.3
MEN'S 8K CHAMPIONSHIP RACE
Dorenkamp finished the race 17th overall, crossing the finish line with a time of 24:53.0. DiCola finished not far behind, setting a personal-record time of 25:01.5. Hayden Healey (25:29.5), Ryan Watson (25:32.8), and Behailu Bekele-Aruri (25:51.9) concluded the Nittany Lions' top five finishers as the team claimed sixth place in the Big Ten.
No. 24 Wisconsin scored 19 points and earned the team title over No. 19 Michigan (63 points). Michigan State (86), Purdue (115), and Illinois (133) rounded out the teams above the sixth-place Nittany Lions (166).
Penn State Men's Top Seven Results (166 pts):
Place (Points) Runner Time
17 (17) Evan Dorenkamp 24:53.0
23 (23) Brian DiCola 25:01.5 PR
40 (37) Hayden Healey 25:29.5
43 (40) Ryan Watson 25:32.8
59 (49) Behailu Bekele-Arcuri 25:51.9
63 Christopher DeSousa 26:02.0
69 Brendan Flynn 26:07.7
WHAT'S NEXT
Penn State will continue its postseason slate at Lehigh on November 10 when both squads will run in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateTFXC) and X/Instagram (@pennstatetfxc).
