XC teams have solid showings despite split squad
The Penn State Fayette cross country team ran a pair of split squad races Saturday and had good showings at both.
The freshmen and new runners, as well as the women's team, went to the PSU Mont Alto Invitational with both teams finishing second while the veteran squad went west to the University of Rio Grande Patty Forgey Invitational and took fifth place.
"The reason for the split was to teach the first-year runners to depend on each other," head coach Joe Carei said. "We are also looking for one or two to take a leadership role for (the younger) group."
Carei was happy with the outcome at the Mont Alto Invitational.
"To get second with just first-year runners was pretty remarkable," he said. "We had won this meet the previous three years, but we had our whole squad.
"Mission accomplished."
The team had four runners in the top ten and was led by Ben Witt (Uniontown, PA/Uniontown HS), who finished fourth (30:22) to earn a medal.
Ryan Semle (Uxbridge, MA/Uxbridge HS) finished sixth (30:46), Joe O'Connell (West Mifflin, PA/West Mifflin HS) was eighth (30:52) and Arlo Helms (Connellsville, PA/Connellsville HS) was finished 10th (31:25).
The team was the top PSUAC of the six who competed at the event.
The women's team finished second out of 10 teams.
Kira Nicholson (Scottdale, PA/Southmoreland HS) led the way as she finished 14th (35:06) with Meghan Czekaj finishing 17th (38:35), Casey Falcon (Beth-Center, PA/Beth-Center HS) was 19th (38:52), Haley Miller was 22nd (41:41) and Pam McKnight finished out the team's top five in 24th place (48:47).
The veteran runners faced schools from Ohio and Kentucky at the Patty Forgey Invitational.
"We went up against some formidable competition with NAIA team Lindsay Wilson College from Kentucky coming out on top," Carei said. "We didn't do quite as well as I wanted as we were hoping for a top-three finish.
"However, Mitchell Minda (Elizabeth, PA/Elizabeth Forward HS) was dealing with some back issues."
Minda was the PSUAC Runner of the Week last week.
Nyoah Marteny (Perryopolis, PA/Frazier) medaled as he finished in 13th place with Michael Elliott (Clarksville, PA/Beth-Center HS) next in 16th and Aaron Mylan (Rices Landing, PA/Jefferson-Morgan HS) was 22nd.
Drew Erdman (Greensburg, PA/Greensburg Salem HS) came in 26th while Minda was 30th.
Carei spoke about the split squad experience.
"It was a great experience for both teams and I am glad we did it," he said.
The team reunites Saturday for the PSU Brandywine Blue Apple Invitational Saturday.
For more information on the team, go to https://www.psfathletics.com/sports/xc/index.