2008 Woodie Awards
Cross country runs with the best at Penn State
By Josh Rizzo
Rocket Contributor
Issue date: 10/19/07 Section: Sports
The Slippery Rock men's cross country team ran with the big boys at the Penn State Invitational and performed extremely well.
The Penn State Invitational included teams from Wake Forest University, located in North Carolina, to Guelph University, which is located in Guelph, Ontario.
Even with the wide range of competition, which included Division-I opponents, SRU's men's team held its own, placing seventh out of 20 teams. SRU ended up scoring a combined 187 among its top five runners. The winner of the invitational was LaSalle University, with a score of 62.
The winner of the PSU Invitational was an unattached runner. Since the runner did not factor into the scoring, the tournament directors did not include his name in the results.
The top finisher whose time was reported in the scoring was the University of Kentucky's Andre Silva with a time of 26:16.
SRU junior and two time All-American Jeff Weiss finished three seconds off of Silva's pace with a time of 26:19. So while Weiss finished third overall, he only earned two points because of the unattached runner who won the race.
Weiss also garnered some extra attention for his finish at the race. As the top non-Division I finisher, Weiss was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference men's cross country Athlete of the Week.
Pat Reagan also cracked the top 20 for the Rock. Reagan managed to come in 13th with a time of 26:40. The Rock's No. 5 runner was unable to participate in the race because of an injury.
Kevin Dustin, who won the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Invitational, has had problems with his shins and decided not to participate in the race.
"We had a solid run, but the guys definitely have better races in them," Coach John Papa said. "If everyone on the team runs their best race, we should be the favorites to win the conference, but we need to earn the title. Nothing will be given to us."
The women's team, however, did not have as much success. They placed 23rd of 25 teams, with their best runner being Katie Bork. Bork placed 89th with a time of 23:03.
Other notable finishers were Jaime Wright in 113th place, Leslie Kramer in 126th, Kim Smith in 140th and Rebecca Younger in 144th.
The Rock will next be competing in the PSAC championships in Kutztown on Oct. 27.
The Penn State Invitational included teams from Wake Forest University, located in North Carolina, to Guelph University, which is located in Guelph, Ontario.
Even with the wide range of competition, which included Division-I opponents, SRU's men's team held its own, placing seventh out of 20 teams. SRU ended up scoring a combined 187 among its top five runners. The winner of the invitational was LaSalle University, with a score of 62.
The winner of the PSU Invitational was an unattached runner. Since the runner did not factor into the scoring, the tournament directors did not include his name in the results.
The top finisher whose time was reported in the scoring was the University of Kentucky's Andre Silva with a time of 26:16.
SRU junior and two time All-American Jeff Weiss finished three seconds off of Silva's pace with a time of 26:19. So while Weiss finished third overall, he only earned two points because of the unattached runner who won the race.
Weiss also garnered some extra attention for his finish at the race. As the top non-Division I finisher, Weiss was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference men's cross country Athlete of the Week.
Pat Reagan also cracked the top 20 for the Rock. Reagan managed to come in 13th with a time of 26:40. The Rock's No. 5 runner was unable to participate in the race because of an injury.
Kevin Dustin, who won the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Invitational, has had problems with his shins and decided not to participate in the race.
"We had a solid run, but the guys definitely have better races in them," Coach John Papa said. "If everyone on the team runs their best race, we should be the favorites to win the conference, but we need to earn the title. Nothing will be given to us."
The women's team, however, did not have as much success. They placed 23rd of 25 teams, with their best runner being Katie Bork. Bork placed 89th with a time of 23:03.
Other notable finishers were Jaime Wright in 113th place, Leslie Kramer in 126th, Kim Smith in 140th and Rebecca Younger in 144th.
The Rock will next be competing in the PSAC championships in Kutztown on Oct. 27.
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