MEET DAY: Cross Country to Participate in Princeton Fall Classic

PRINCETON FALL CLASSIC - Oct. 16, 2026

MEET HISTORY

• The Joe Handelman ’52 Princeton Fall Classic takes place at Princeton University’s state-of-the-art Meadows Campus Cross Country Course. The course hosted its inaugural race at the first Princeton Fall Classic on Oct. 18, 2024.
• This year’s meet honors Joe Handelman, a member of Princeton’s cross country team from 1948–52 who became known for his remarkable longevity in the sport. Handelman competed in more than 1,200 races, including 30 marathons and 14 ultramarathons, and earned more than 700 age-group awards. He completed his final ultramarathon, a 50K, at age 80. 

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY MEET DAY NOTES

2026 MEN'S EDITION 

• The men will race in an 8K at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 16th.
• The men's insitutions include Boston College, Elon, George Mason, High Point, Idaho State, La Salle, Miami (Fla.), Monmouth, Morgan State, NJIT, North Flordia, #24 Princeton, Rider, Robert Morris, Rutgers, Saint Joesph's University, Sherbrooke, #8 Syracuse, Temple and Willam & Mary. 
• Live results will be available and PDF results will be available on Penn State’s website following the meets.

2025 REWIND

• The Penn State men’s cross country team turned in a strong performance at the 2025 Princeton Fall Classic, finishing fourth in the 31-team field.
• Senior Nick Sloff finished first among the Nittany Lions, placing 18th overall with a time of 23:28.6. Senior Brian DiCola came next at 29th overall with a time of 23:43.3. Justin Healey '2626 ran a PR (24:01.6) to finish 45th overall and third for Penn State. Graduate Student Caiden Leen (24:03.3 PR, 47th) and Brendan Flynn '26 (24:13.1, 66th) rounded out the top five for Penn State.

LAST TIME OUT - Paul Short Run

• The Nittany Lion men last competed on October 2 at Lehigh University’s Paul Short Run.
• Senior Nick Sloff won the men’s 8K Gold race in 23:59.8 to earn his first victory of the season. 
• He became the first Nittany Lion to win the 8K Gold race since Evan Dorenkamp in 2023, when Dorenkamp posted a then-personal-best time of 23:53.7.
• Sloff's performance earned. him U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division I Men’s National Athlete of the Week and Big Ten Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week.
• The Nittany Lions also totaled 129 points to secure second place - their best team finish at the Paul Short Run since winning the title in 2001.
• Behind Sloff, senior Brian DiCola finished 20th in 24:31.3, followed by senior Logan Strawser in 29th (24:41.0) and sophomore Isaac Oppermann in 31st (24:44.7). Sophomore Adam Kingston rounded out Penn State’s five scoring runners in 50th (25:00.2).
• First year Thomas Rae placed 63rd (25:10.1), followed by graduate student Caiden Leen in 79th (25:23.1), sophomore Michael Braun in 110th (25:38.2), freshman Matthew Gosling in 154th (25:58.4) and graduate student Ryan Watson in 170th (26:06.1).

REGIONALLY RECOGNIZED

• The men's team check in at 4th in the region. 

FRESH FACES 

• The men’s team welcomes five newcomers: Dorian Bening (Woodland Hills, Calif.), Matthew Gosling (Newton, Pa.), Justin Landis (North Wales, Pa.), Colin O’Donnell (Collegeville, Pa.) and Thomas Rae (Leesburg, Va.).

THE RETURNERS

• Men’s cross country welcomes back 12 returners: graduate students Caiden Leen (Downingtown, Pa.) and Ryan Watson (Falls Church, Va.); seniors Jake Borgesi (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Brian DiCola (Horsham, Pa.), Tyler Rader (Huntingdon, Pa.), T.J. Roden (Harrisburg, Pa.), Nick Sloff (State College, Pa.) and Logan Stawser (McAlisterville, Pa.); and sophomores Michael Braun (Worthington, Pa.), Adam Kingston (Lititz, Pa.), Isaac Oppermann (Port Matilda, Pa.) and Jaxon Schodel (Enon Valley, Pa.).

BIG TEN RUNNER TO WATCH 

• Senior Nick Sloff was announced a Big Ten Runner to Watch ahead of the 2026 season.
• Sloff emerged as Penn State’s top runner during the 2025 season, finishing as the Nittany Lions’ No. 1 runner in each of his final five meets.
• He placed 23rd at the Big Ten Championships with a time of 24:00.4.
• Sloff finished sixth at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional in 29:37.0, helping Penn State place fourth and earning an individual berth in the NCAA Championships.
• In his first NCAA Championships appearance, Sloff placed 132nd in the men’s 10K with a time of 29:49.2, the best finish by a Penn State men’s runner at the national championships since 2013.
• Sloff became the second Nittany Lion to qualify individually for the NCAA Championships in as many seasons, following Brian DiCola in 2024.

ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS

• During 2025 season, the men collected four top five team finishes (Dolan Duals on Sept. 5, Spiked Shoe on Sept. 12, Princeton Fall Classic on Oct. 17, and NCAA Regionals on Nov. 14).
• At the NCAA Championships, Sloff finished 132nd, marking the highest finish by a Penn State men’s runner since 2013.

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY MEET DAY NOTES

2026 WOMEN'S EDITION 

• The women will race in a 6K at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, October 16th.
• The women's insitutions include #29 Boston College, Elon, George Mason, Georgetown, High Point, Idaho State, La Salle, Miami (Fla.), Monmouth, Morgan State, North Flordia, #25 Princeton, Rider, Robert Morris, Rutgers, Saint Joesph's University, Syracuse, Temple and Willam & Mary. 
• Live results will be available and PDF results will be available on Penn State’s website following the meets.

2025 REWIND

• Two returning women competed at the 2025 edition of the Princeton Fall Classic. Sophomore Eva Kynaston finished 27th in 20:47.1 an sophomore Liliah Gordon clocked 21:48.0.

LAST TIME OUT - Nuttycombe Invitational

• The Penn State women’s cross country team finished 14th in a 33-team field
• The No. 29 Nittany Lions finished ahead of three nationally ranked programs in No. 23 Washington, No. 24 Providence and No. 30 Boise State. Penn State totaled 424 points, finishing just three points behind No. 21 Minnesota and seven behind No. 11 Stanford.
• First-year Vivian Kipruto paced Penn State in the women’s 6K race, finishing 39th in 20:11.0. Graduate student Katie Dallas followed in 77th with a time of 20:38.0, while senior Claire Zubey crossed the line in 20:39.3 to place 79th.
• Sophomore Eva Kynaston finished 111th in 20:57.4, and sophomore Caroline Tribett rounded out the Nittany Lions’ scoring five in 118th with a time of 21:00.2.
• Graduate student Charlotte Costich placed 127th in 21:03.6, while freshman Reese Miller completed Penn State’s lineup with a 157th-place finish in 21:13.5.

NATIONALLY RANKED | REGIONALLY RECOGNIZED

• The Nittany Lion women move up five spots to No. 24 nationally and are ranked No. 2 in the mid-atlantic region.

  FRESH FACES 

• The women’s team welcomes seven newcomers to the roster: Ana Bondy (Carlisle, Pa.), Fancy Chepkoech (Kenya), Baylee Espinosa (Lewisburg, Pa.), Grace Fritzman (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Vivian Kipruto (Kenya), Reese Miller (Gwynedd Valley, Pa.) and Ella White (Wake Forest, N.C./UNC Charlotte).

THE RETURNERS 

• Women’s cross country welcomes back 11 returners including graduate students Charlotte Costich (Buffalo, N.Y.), Katie Dallas (West Lawn, Pa.) and Lea Hatcher (Morgantown, W. Va.,); senior Claire Zubey (Spring City, Pa.); and sophomores Liliah Gordon (Chesterfield, N.J.), Jane Kratz (Pottstown, Pa.), Wren Kucler (Wexford, Pa.), Eva Kynaston (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Emma Brooke Levering (Homewood, Ala.), Lauren Stine (Hagerstown, Md.) and Caroline Tribett (Gainesville, Va.).

BIG TEN RUNNERS TO WATCH 

• Graduate student Charlotte Costich and senior Nick Sloff were named Big Ten Runners to Watch by the conference on Aug. 19 ahead of the 2026 season.
• Costich was a scoring runner in all six meets in which she competed during the 2025 season.
• She helped Penn State record four top-two team finishes, including victories at the Dolan Duals and Spiked Shoe Invitational and runner-up finishes at the Paul Short Run and Big Ten Championships.
• Costich finished as the Nittany Lions’ No. 2 runner in each of her final three races at the Nuttycombe Invitational, Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championships.
• She earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors after placing eighth at the conference championships, helping Penn State finish second with 78 points.
• Costich capped the season by placing 93rd as Penn State’s No. 2 finisher at the NCAA Championships, contributing to the Nittany Lions’ 10th-place team finish.

ONE FOR THE BOOKS 

• During 2025 season, the women recorded five top-three team finishes, while the men collected four top-five team finishes.
• The women earned their national and regional rankings after finishing 10th at the 2025 NCAA Championships, marking the program’s highest finish since 1994.
• Florence Caron ’25 earned a 14th-place finish, the highest by a Nittany Lion at the NCAA Championships in 25 years.
• Caron also earned back-to-back All-America finishes in 2024 and 2025, marking the first time a Nittany Lion accomplished the feat since the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
• The 2025 NCAA Championships marked the third consecutive season the women qualified for the national meet, the program’s first stretch of at least three consecutive appearances since 2016-19.

PUTTING THE BIG TEN ON NOTICE 

• The women’s team earned a second-place finish at the 2025 Big Ten Championships, its best result since also finishing second in 2016.
• Florence Caron’s career-best fourth-place finish earned her a second consecutive First Team All-Big Ten honor.
• Charlotte Costich and Ada Rand joined Caron in earning All-Big Ten honors, marking the program’s most since 2020. Costich ran 20:11.7 to place eighth and earn the first All-Big Ten First Team honor of her career. Rand rounded out Penn State’s top three finishers, running 20:23.3 to earn All-Big Ten honors for the first time in her career.