The women's cross country team won Saturday's Rutgers Invitational soundly despite the fact it was without two of its best runners.
Amanda Dudley and Leslee Martin had to sit out the meet due to nagging illnesses. Nonetheless the Lady Lions soundly beat Penn, 29-50, to take the meet. Rhode Island came in a distant third.
"I was pleased with the performances," Coach Teri Jordan said. "The other people really came in."
"We competed well as a team," echoed Wendy Nelson. "We passed a lot of people near the end."
Penn coach Tony Tenisci thought his team could beat Penn State. Last week he said that when he thought about Penn State, he always thought of tough, respectable teams, not anyone in particular. His No. 1 runner, Chris Lundy, won the meet with a time of 17:45.
For Penn State, Nelson and Laurie Morrow placed second and third, respectively, with times of 18:01 and 18:45.
Amy Aston, Lisa Gold and Becky Williams finished seventh, eighth and ninth respectively, to clinch the victory for the Lady Lions.
Jordan said that she is seeing a great amount of improvement, and is eager for some runners to get over their colds which have been hindering the team.
In addition to the stellar performance of the varsity, the junior varsity also came in first paced by Carol Davis, who ran an 18:45. Dana Dougan and Kendra Matthias came in second and third, respectively, severely dashing second-place Rutgers' hopes of winning.
"They give me a great deal of pride," Jordan said. "On any other team, they could be the No. 1 runners."
Jordan said the JV has never lost at the Rutgers Invitational since she has been coaching.
This weekend, the team will host The Lady Lion Classic at the Blue Golf Course. The top five runners won't compete in this meet because they deserve some rest, Jordan said. Instead, they will prepare for the Lady Razorback Invitational in Arkansas on October 14th.
"(Jordan) has not tapered off the workouts," Nelson said, adding that many of the runners were tired.
Two racers will get to run both this weekend and at Arkansas. This weekend's race will feature the Nittany Valley Track Club and James Madison and should provide good competition for the junior varsity.
