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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. – The Penn State Cross Country Team had a tough day on the course on Friday as the team hosted the Penn State National Open at the Blue & White Golf Courses.
The highlight of the day was the race victory of Evan Dorenkamp, who won the men’s 5.2-mile race with a time of 25: 26.9. It was the junior’s first cross-country win as Nittany Lion. Also in the top 5 was Senior Brandon Hontz, who finished fifth with a time of 25: 44.7. On the back of five top 30 finishers, the Nittany Lion men finished second as a team with a score of 70.
The Penn State women followed up their strong performance at the Paul Short Run with another solid team performance, finishing fourth as a unit with a team score of 123. Sophia Toti (16, 21: 28.5) and Madaline Ullom (17, 21: 32.6) led the fight for the Nittany Lions, one of two teams of seven runners who finished in the top 40.
The team is now heading into the postseason in high spirits and is turning its attention to the Big Ten Cross Country Championships in two weeks’ time. The meeting will be held at Penn State for the first time since 2009.
FROM THE SOURCE: Head Coach John Gondak
“Another great day for the Penn State National Open. Conditions were quite challenging with the high humidity and heat which was very unusual for mid-October, but I thought our teams did well. The women implemented the race plan You may have had a few small issues at the end of the race that we will work on to get better when we do Big Tens in two weeks’ time.
The men came and came. It was fantastic to see Evan take the win and finish second as a team. It was sure to close by how well Cornell and Pitt were doing. Congratulations to these teams. I’m excited to see how our boys fought and look forward to seeing what they can do at the conference meeting. “