BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Senior Nick Sloff won the men’s 8K Gold race, while the Penn State men’s cross country team finished second overall at the Paul Short Run on Friday morning.
Sloff crossed the finish line 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.
The Nittany Lions totaled 129 points to secure their best team finish at the Paul Short Run since winning the title in 2001.
“Really happy for Nick to pull out a great win at Paul Short today under not ideal conditions,” said head coach John Gondak. “He put himself at the front of the race at the start and ran with confidence. The team ran great behind him and just kept moving up during the race to secure the runner up team finish. It is our best team finish here in years so looking to build off of that as we move along through the season.”
Behind Sloff, Brian DiCola finished 20th in 24:31.3, followed by Logan Strawser in 29th (24:41.0) and Isaac Oppermann in 31st (24:44.7). Adam Kingston rounded out Penn State’s five scoring runners in 50th (25:00.2).
Thomas Rae placed 63rd (25:10.1), followed by Caiden Leen in 79th (25:23.1), Michael Braun in 110th (25:38.2), Matthew Gosling in 154th (25:58.4) and Ryan Watson in 170th (26:06.1).
Penn State Men’s Top Seven Results (129 points)
Place (Points) | Name | Time
1 (1) | Nick Sloff | 23:59.8
20 (20) | Brian DiCola | 24:31.3
29 (29) | Logan Strawer | 24:41.0
31 (31) | Isaac Oppermann | 24:44.7
50 (48) | Adam Kingston | 25:00.2
63 | Thomas Rae | 25:10.1
79 | Caiden Leen | 25:23.1
UP NEXT:
The Penn State men’s cross-country team returns to action in two weeks at the NCAA Pre-Invitational on Friday, Oct. 16, at 11 a.m. in Terre Haute, Ind.
The women return to action next week at the Nuttycombe Invitational, hosted by Wisconsin, on Friday, Oct. 9, at 11 a.m. in Madison, Wis.