ROSEMONT, Ill. – Graduate student Charlotte Costich and senior Nick Sloff of the Penn State cross country team were named Big Ten Runners to Watch, as announced by the conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Costich is coming off a strong 2025 campaign in which she was a scoring runner in each of the six meets she competed in. Costich helped Penn State record four top-two team finishes during the season, including victories at the Dolan Duals and Spiked Shoe Invitational and runner-up finishes at the Paul Short Run and Big Ten Championships.
She opened the season by placing fourth overall and third among Nittany Lion runners at the Dolan Duals, helping Penn State claim the team title. At the Spiked Shoe Invitational, Costich finished sixth overall and fifth for Penn State as the Nittany Lions captured their second consecutive team victory.
Costich emerged as one of Penn State’s top runners down the stretch, finishing as the Nittany Lions’ No. 2 runner in each of her final three races at the Nuttycombe Invitational, Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championships.
Costich earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors after running a then-PR of 20:11.7 to finish eighth overall at the Big Ten Championships. She helped Penn State secure a runner-up team finish with 78 points.
Costich capped the season by improving her personal best to 19:55.2 at the NCAA Championships, placing 93rd nationally as Penn State’s No. 2 finisher and contributing to the Nittany Lions’ 10th-place team finish.
Sloff enters the 2026 season following a strong 2025 campaign in which he emerged as Penn State’s top runner, finishing as the Nittany Lions’ No. 1 finisher in each of his final five meets of the season.
After finishing second among Penn State runners and 18th overall at the Spiked Shoe Invitational, Sloff took over the top spot in the Nittany Lion lineup at the Paul Short Run, placing 14th overall in 23:30.9. He followed with another team-leading performance at the Princeton Fall Classic, finishing 18th overall with a season-best 8K time of 23:28.6.
Sloff continued to lead the Nittany Lions in the postseason, finishing 23rd overall at the Big Ten Championships with a time of 24:00.4. He followed with one of his best performances of the season at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, placing sixth overall in 29:37.0 to lead Penn State to a fourth-place team finish and earn an individual berth to the NCAA Championships.
In his first career NCAA Championships appearance, Sloff finished 132nd overall in the men’s 10K championship race with a time of 29:49.2. His 132nd-place finish marked the highest by a Penn State men’s runner at the NCAA Championships since Matt Fischer placed 78th in 2013. Sloff also became the second Nittany Lion to qualify individually for the NCAA Championships in as many seasons, following Brian DiCola in 2024.
Penn State opens its 2026 cross country season on Friday September 4 at the Dolan Duals in Lock Haven, Pa.
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