Cross Country teams finish second

Slippery Rock University's cross country team received two second-place victories in its first home match of the season in the Mack Cooper Classic.

The men's 8,000-meter event was only a two-horse race. The Green and White finished with a total of 34 points, which was just three points off of Carnegie Mellon University's total of 31 points.

The next closest team to the Green and White was Indiana University of Pennsylvania (73 points).

The women's 6,000-meter event had IUP finishing the day atop the field with 35 points. The Green and White and Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania followed the Crimson Hawks with scores of 53 and 65, respectively.

Head coach John Papa said that he was excited about the performances of both teams.

"In a sense, the men were closer to winning," Papa said. "I was excited about our ladies too. They're zeroed in on IUP. They're a good team. We think we're going to run with them on the same level very soon."

Sophomore Travis Arrigoni finished third (25.56) for the men, but was leading the pack for the majority of the race until IUP sophomore Victor Costello  and Carnegie Mellon junior Evan Gates passed him down the stretch.

Papa said that the end of the race was a good learning experience for Arrigoni.

"He did the work, so to speak," Papa said. "It's easier to focus on someone's back and let them do the work. He got some good experience in front."

The Green and White placed four more runners in the top 15. Junior Alex Koksal was fourth (26:05), sophomore Morgan Elliott was sixth (26:28), sophomore Michael Beegle was 11th (26:48) and freshman Chris Grooms was 12th (26:49).

Papa said that Koksal had a very good race, as well.

"Alex was in the mix too," Papa said. "He faded towards the end, but he was mixing it up a good bit."

Papa went on to explain how great the race was overall.

"It was a tight race," Papa said. "There was some place changing as the event went on. I was excited about how our guys ran. The best is yet to come."

Elliott was pleased with the team's efforts.

"I'm pretty happy with how the race went," Elliott said. "The freshmen ran a good first 8K and got a feel of how it's run. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and seeing everyone run faster times."

Junior Stephanie Case not only brought home the top finish for the women's team, but had the second-best mark of anyone in the Green and White.

Case rounded out the top five, recording a time of 23:26.

Freshman Janine Powis and junior Becky Belding placed ninth and 10th, respectively, with times of 24:01 and 24:03.

Case thinks the team still has a long way to go.

"Everyone is stronger than we were last year, but we still have a long way to go in order to get where we want to be," Case said. "Even though we've improved, a lot of other teams did too, and we need to be above them."

The Green and White's next meet is tomorrow in Lock Haven for the Lock Haven Invite at 10:30 a.m.