CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 24 Penn State women’s cross country team finished fourth overall at the 2024 Big Ten Cross Country Championships Friday morning, while the men’s team placed eighth. In the new-look Big Ten, Penn State posted two individual All-Big Ten finishes, with Florence Caron and Brian DiCola each earning conference honors for their outings on Friday.
“We’re very pleased with how Penn State cross country competed today,” said Head Coach John Gondak. “The women’s group went for it and put themselves in the mix. It was fun to watch them compete and beat some teams that were ranked ahead of us. The men’s team battled and finished ahead of the teams we were looking to beat. It was great to see them put themselves in a good position and race well. We earned our first All-Big Ten runner on the men’s side in six years, which was fantastic. Overall, it was a great day for Penn State in Illinois.”
WOMEN’S 6K RACE
The No. 24 Penn State women’s team placed fourth overall in the 2024 Big Ten Championships, and was fronted by an outstanding First Team All-Big Ten fifth-overall finish by Caron.
With four additional teams in the conference this season, Penn State showed it belonged among the leaders, replicating its fourth-place finish from last year’s conference meet with 28 additional runners in contention this time around.
Caron took fifth overall with an impressive 19:29.1, while teammate Hayley Kitching recorded the first sub-20:00 performance of her career with a 19:51.2. Maddie Ullom set her own PR
No. 17 Oregon (33 pts) took the team title in its first year in the conference. No. 2 Washington (60 pts) finished second, followed by No. 11 Wisconsin (133 pts) in third, just one point ahead of Penn State (134 pts) in fourth.
Penn State Women’s Top Seven Results (4th – 134 pts):
Place (Points) Runner Time
5 (5) Florence Caron 19:29.1
22 (22) Hayley Kitching 19:51.2
30 (30) Maddie Ullom 20:01.9
36 (36) Sophia Toti 20:08.1
41 (41) Claire Daniels 20:12.1
65 Lea Hatcher 20:29.4
67 Allison Dougherty 20:34.0
MEN’S 8K RACE
The Nittany Lion men, behind a Second Team All-Big Ten finish from DiCola, placed eighth at the 2024 Big Ten Cross Country Championships.
DiCola ran his best race of the season, setting an 8K PR with a 23:10.5 mark in 20th place, becoming Penn State’s first All-Big Ten honoree since Colin Abert took home Second Team honors in 2018. Nick Sloff finished 49th overall with a 23:38.8 while Jake Allen ran a 23:45.7 in 58th place. Ryan Watson (23:56.5, 66th) and T.J. Roden (24:05.2, 79th) rounded out Penn State’s top five at the conference championships.
No. 9 Wisconsin (46 pts) claimed the Big Ten team title with No. 18 Washington (58 pts) taking second in a tiebreaker over No. 25 Oregon (58 pts).
Penn State Men’s Top Seven Results (8th - 250 pts):
Place (Points) Runner Time
20 (20) Brian DiCola 23:10.5
49 (48) Nick Sloff 23:38.8
58 (53) Jake Allen 23:45.7
66 (60) Ryan Watson 23:56.5
79 (69) T.J. Roden 24:05.2
93 Justin Healey 24:19.7
94 Caiden Leen 24:22.0
WHAT’S NEXT
Penn State continues its postseason schedule by hosting the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships at home on November 15.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateTFXC) and X/Instagram (@pennstatetfxc).