Men's XC wins fourth straight PSUAC crown, women second

Men's XC wins fourth straight PSUAC crown, women second
October 28, 2019
The Penn State Fayette cross country team performed well Saturday at the Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference invitational championships as the men took first place for the fourth consecutive year and the women finished second.

On the men's side, Fayette blew away the field as it had five of the top seven runners to finish with 21 team points.

PSU Brandywine was second with 43 teams points while PSU Schuykill was third with 87 points.

Nyoah Marteny (Perryopolis, PA/Frazier) won first place with a time of 25:49 with Ryan Semle (Uxbridge, MA/Uxbridge HS) and Ben Witt (Uniontown, PA/Uniontown HS) tying for third in 26:02.

Other top 10 finishers for Fayette included Drew Erdman (Greensburg, PA/Greensburg Salem HS) in sixth place with a time of 26:16, Mitch Minda (Elizabeth, PA/Elizabeth Forward HS) was seventh in 26:23, Joe O'Connell (West Mifflin, PA/West Mifflin HS) was eighth in 26:26 and Aaron Mylan (Rices Landing, PA/Jefferson-Morgan HS) was 10th with a time of 27:11.

Along with the seven finishers in the top 10, Fayette placed three more in the top 20 as Stephen Lacek (Fort Cherry, PA/Fort Cherry HS) tied for 11th in 27:34, Arlo Helms (Connellsville, PA/Connellsville HS) was 15th in 27:52 and Josh Hustosky (Connellsville, PA/Connellsville HS) was 20th with a time of 29:38.

On the women's side, Fayette finished with 28 teams points, on off from PSU Schuykill's winning tally of 27.

Casey Falcon (Beth-Center, PA/Beth-Center HS) looked best for Fayette with her sixth-place finish in 28:17.

Kira Nicholson (Scottdale, PA/Southmoreland HS) also finished in the top 10 with an eighth-place finish in a time of 28:51.

Haley Miller was 11th in 30:22, Meghan Czekaj finished 12th in 31:22 and Pam McKnight was 17th in a time of 32:15.

Next up for head coach Joe Carei and his team are the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championships in Virginia Beach, VA on Friday, November 8.

For more information on the team, go to https://www.psfathletics.com/sports/xc/index.