The question of whether the Penn State men's cross country team would end their season on the top of a hill or in a low valley was answered this weekend.

The rollercoaster ride that has been the Penn State men's cross country team's season ended Saturday in New York when the team finished sixth at the ICAAAA Championship.

"Everyone did pretty well," sophomore Chris Foster said. "Everybody stepped up. It was a good solid performance. I would rather finish the season like this than with last week's race"

Mike Gioia led the Nittany Lions with an 11th-place finish at the Van Cortland Park course with a time of 25:45.

"I was happy with the place but not with the time." Gioia said.

Gioia missed the early part of the season because of an illness.

He said he had planned on running at a faster pace but the place was his best of the season.

Cornell won the 17-team race with 81 points while William & Mary placed second with 109 points. Yale, Georgetown and Bucknell rounded out the top five. The Blue and White collected 179 points.

John Bitok of Syracuse won the race with a time of 25:05.

Also placing for Lions were senior Josh Loren (30th), junior Michael Enwright (61), sophomores Joel Moceri (33), Eamon Brazunas (49) and Tim Walker, and freshman Shawn Cavanaugh (59).

Juniors Chris Pruitt and Andy Roth as well as sophomore Chris Foster also raced in the meet.

The race was a welcome improvement for a team that has been struggling recently.

"We haven't had a great season," Gioia said. "So any improvement is a step in the right direction."

The season started off on a high, coming in second at the Spiked Shoe Invitational and first at the James Madison Run, only to fall to last place at the Big Ten Championships.

Despite injuries to many key members, such as freshman Dan Mazzocco and junior Scott Munro, the team has been able to show some depth with runners like Gioia, Loren and Moceri finishing the season strong.

Moceri, Loren and Gioia each finished first for the team in one of the last three races.

Mazzocco said the team will benefit from better health next season when the core of steady runners grows.

"I think the team, in the next two years should be fine," Mazzocco said. "[Gioia, Moceri and Loren] are all very consistent runners. They don't have bad races."

The sixth-place finish allowed the team to end the season out of the valley they had been in.

"Its not a high point." Foster said. "But its not a low point either."