On a brisk autumn morning, and a swamp-type surface, the Penn State women's cross-country team held its annual National Invitational Meet for the 36th time.

The field included the No. 2-ranked team in the country, Providence, and the No. 5-ranked team, Duke.

Providence, the school that won this event a year ago, didn't let go of its crown as it came away with top honors once again.

Providence showcased its deadly one-two punch with seniors Kim Smith, who is as good as any runner in the country, and Mary Cullen, those two finished first and second overall.

Smith, who was the overall winner of this event a year ago, improved her time by 28 seconds with a time of 19:46.

"She's definitely on a different level than a lot of us," senior Kayla Matrunick said.

Matrunick has come on strong for the Lions this season and finished third for her team with a 22:04.

As for the rest of the Nittany Lions, they came into this one looking for a good showing before the Big Ten championships coming up at the end of October.

The Lions finished sixth out of a respectable 41-team on a Blue-White golf course that would have been better suitable for a rugby game.

The surface was horrific due to rain that fell over Happy Valley the night before.

But that didn't stop senior Molly Landreth from finishing first for the Lions yet again. She has finished first in every race for the past two seasons for Penn State, coming in at 21:43.

If there is such a thing as balance when pertaining to a cross-country team, the Lions had it. Out of the 41 teams that competed, the Lions had the closest spread between all the teams.

That means their players all finished within the closest proximity compared to the rest of the competition.

"We can't be upset with the results we had this week, we really ran well," Matrunick said.

The Lions came off a disappointing finish in their last meet coming into this weekend. They came in ninth at the adidas Notre Dame Invitational two weeks ago when they had hoped to at least finish in the top five.

But its sixth-place finish this week more than makes up for that disappointing showing.

The team will now set its sights on the upcoming Big Ten Championships, the meet they've been waiting for all season long.

"We have some big goals, we'll definitely be ready," Matrunick said.