Women XC takes 2nd, Men 5th at Nationals
Virginia Beach, VA - Both the Penn State Fayette women's and men's Cross-County teams took part in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championships on Friday, and both teams had a good showing as the women's team finished second in the 6k while the men took fifth in the 8k.
"We are excited for the women with their second-place finish and the guys finished fifth, which is where we thought they'd end up," said head coach Joe Carei. "We did get our hopes up after winning the conference meet. Unfortunately, we did have some adversity before the meet that affected the outcome."
The women finished with a score of 37 points, nine behind the State College of New York, Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF). Nicole Walker (West Mifflin, PA/West Mifflin HS) looked best for Fayette as she finished third with a time of 25:58.49. Kelsey Wilkins (Monaca, PA/Central Valley HS) took fourth in 26:21.23, Josie Pindro (Hopwood, PA/Geibel Catholic) was sixth in 26:39.59, Chloe Kalp (Melcroft, PA/Connellsville HS) finished eighth in 27:47.78 and Haley Miller (Masontown, PA/Albert Gallatin HS) was 16th in 32:24.20.
The men finished with a team score of 127, well behind the winning team from SUNY ESF, who finished with a score of 30. Mitch Minda (Elizabeth, PA/Elizabeth Forward HS) looked best for Fayette as he finished in ninth place in a time of 30:05.23. Joe O'Connell (West Mifflin, PA/West Mifflin HS) was 23rd in 31:55.02, Ethan Mates (Mt. Pleasant, PA/Mt. Pleasant HS) was 28th in 32:24.65, Drew Erdman (Greensburg, PA/Greensburg Salem HS) was 33rd in 33:30.40 and PJ Savini (Uniontown, PA/Laurel Highlands) was 34th in a time of 33:39.47.
For more on the USCAA Cross-Country championships, go to https://uscaafallchampionships.com/landing/index.
For more on the Cross-Country team, go to https://www.psfathletics.com/sports/xc/index or follow us on Instagram @fayetteathletics.
Written by Bill Hughes
