The Penn State women's cross country team didn't finish out on top like last year's team did at the same event, but it did perhaps show some glimpses of future dominance in the first meet of the season at the Lock Haven Invitational on Saturday.
Freshman Bridget Franek led the way for the Nittany Lions, finishing in first place in the 6,000 meter run with a time of 21:23, six seconds over Rachel Papin of La Salle. Solidifying Penn State's dominance at the top was fellow freshman Cheryl Spring, who ended up in third place in the event. Junior Janelle Young was next for the Lions, taking the 19th position with a time of 22:14.
"It went very well. I am very pleased with the entire team's effort. We competed very well," head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said.
But the great efforts by the two newcomers weren't enough to give the Lions a win at the meet, as they finished in second place overall in the team standings with 73 points, just five points shy of meet winner La Salle.
This was a somewhat surprising finish in the overall standings, as it was expected Bucknell and West Virginia would provide the stiffest challenge for Penn State. Instead, Bucknell and West Virginia finished fourth and fifth overall, respectively.
Nonetheless, the Lions can be pleased with the great performances by their youngest participants. As the season goes on, the underclassmen should only continue to improve.
"It was great. There's always that build-up. They go from 5,000 meters in high school to 6,000 meters in college," Alford-Sullivan said. "It's good experience -- get the first race under their belts. A great building block."
While the team didn't get the meet victory it wanted, this meet allowed the team to get used to competing again. More importantly, it gave the freshmen some game-time experience. Interestingly enough, it was the freshmen who actually were the ones on the team who stole the show, as evident by the strong runs by both Franek and Spring.
The somewhat disappointing finish may leave bad tastes in the mouths of the Lions, but they have the chance next week to improve on their finish as they host the Spike Shoe Invitational on Saturday. This will be the first of the Lions' two home meets this season. Their other home meet will be the Penn State National Invitational on Oct. 7.
But the second meet of the year also sees the addition of more teams. Only 10 universities sent a team to the meet at Lock Haven. Penn State should expect that number to at least double this Saturday.
"It's another round of competition -- tougher competition. It's a much bigger field with 20 to 25 teams," Alford-Sullivan said. "But we do have a home course advantage."
