With the Penn State men's cross country team's 25th place finish at the NCAA championship last week, it meant a lot of things for the Nittany Lions.
First and foremost, it meant the most successful season in over a decade for the men's program had come to an end. Secondly, it meant the careers of seven Penn State seniors had come to an end. Thirdly,
and possibly most importantly, it signaled a changing of the guard for the Lions.
This team now belongs to freshmen Kyle Dawson and Vince McNally.
With the departure of the seven seniors, it would be easy to say that Penn State has peaked, and that without that core group of runners, the Lions will come back down to earth next season.
In reality, Penn State will be able to compete well into the future with Dawson and McNally at the center of the team. McNally was one of the Lions' most consistent performers all year, appearing in seven of Penn State's eight races.
Dawson, while only appearing in four races this season, made a huge impact and helped spark the Lions' run through the postseason. Dawson finished no lower than second on the team and finished in the top ten of the field three times en route to being named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
"There's already threads about them on forums across the country saying how they are two of the best freshmen in the nation," senior John Mahoney said in mid November. "We knew they were gonna be good,
but didn't know they would be this good."
Looking at the roster in the absence of the seven seniors, youth is one thing that stands out. The Lions have five freshmen, seven sophomores and two juniors on the current roster.
From this roster, coach Beth Alford-Sullivan believes that freshman Chris Cipro, and sophomores Sam Borchers, Owen Dawson and Lucas Zarzeczny are all runners that will be a major part of the Lions' plans next year. This would give Penn State a group of six runners and a lineup with major potential for growth going forward.
As it pertains to the departing seniors, their influence will be felt long after they're gone. For example, at the beginning of the season, when talking about fellow senior Teddy Quinn, Tyler McCandless said Quinn represented an "old-school, Penn State-tough mentality," and that attitude spreads throughout the team.
When talking about Dawson following the Penn State National, McCandless' words rang with a hint of familiarity.
"He typifies Penn State," McCandless said. "Tough, works hard, loves to compete. Now that's he's given the chance, it just fired us all up."
With Dawson and McNally at the helm of the Lions for the next three years, last week's appearance at the national championship may only be the tip of the iceberg for Penn State.
