If it were up to the Penn State men's cross country team, it would race 12 runners at the regional meet next weekend, that's just how confident the Nittany Lions are in their depth.
In the Lions' six races this year, Penn State has had four different top performers on the team -- freshmen Kyle Dawson and Vince McNally, and seniors John Mahoney and Tyler McCandless. The variety in performances and depth is something Penn State believes it has compared to its other competitors.
"I don't know many teams that could do that in our conference and even in our region, if you've got one guy down, the whole team's going to suffer a lot," said senior Teddy Quinn, who was entered into the running for the Big Ten Sportmanship award on Thursday. "We've got a lot of guys at the same ability level that can pick up the slack. It's really a tremendous thing."
In the last two meets for the Lions -- the Penn State National and the Big Ten championship, the top performer has been the redshirt freshman Dawson. Dawson has finished fifth individually in both races since returning from kidney problems while the team has managed second and fourth place finishes.
Dawson was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year Thursday, and was the first Penn State runner on the men's side to earn a major individual award in cross country since the Lions joined the Big Ten in 1991.
Coach Beth Alford-Sullivan credits some of the variety in top performers to the fact Penn State had not had a full lineup for most of the year, with Brian Fuller, Dawson, McCandless and Lucas Zarzeczny all missing time. Alford-Sullivan also said the lineup was not fully complete until Dawson's return at the Penn State National.
"All along, the season has kind of been going, adding and changing and I also just think it's a good sign of, with Dawson finishing fifth we still had a pack spread of 54 seconds yesterday and that's an impressive thing," Alford-Sullivan said.
Despite the depth Penn State has used to its advantage all year long, Alford-Sullivan believes there is more depth on the roster the Lions haven't tapped into yet.
Alford-Sullivan said that Zarzeczny, who was Penn State's front runner last year, can be back and help the Lions in the future along with Sam Borchers, Chris Cipro, Owen Dawson.
Penn State also believes the team mentality, which the Lions have focused on all season has contributed to the variety in top performers, believing a selfless attitude has allowed Penn State to succeed.
"We don't care if we're first or seventh or eighth or ninth," Mahoney said. "It's all about the team and that's what it's been about all year."
