Women’s Cross Country Wins Spiked Shoe Invitational, Men Finish Fifth – Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women’s cross country team earned the win in the Spiked Shoe Invitational on Friday morning, while the men’s team placed fifth. Florence Caron, Sophia Toti, and Maddie Ullom all finished inside the top ten overall to help the Nittany Lions earn the win.

“Enjoyed a very nice start to the season for both programs today,” said Head Coach John Gondak. “The women pulled out the win over an excellent field. They showed good depth and raced very well over the back half of the race. The men got off to a slow start but really closed well in the second half of the race to finish in the top five. We’re very proud of how both programs competed today.”

WOMEN’S 6K RACE 

The Nittany Lions’ depth was on full display at the Spiked Shoe Invitational, with two runners scoring points for Penn State in their first home races combined with three very strong top-ten overall performances.

Caron led Penn State through the line at home, finishing second overall in 20:03.9. Her time was the ninth-fastest ever run on Penn State’s home course. Toti (20:35.5) and Ullom (20:39.1) placed sixth and seventh for the Nittany Lions, making Penn State the only school in the field to have three top ten finishers. Allison Dougherty finished 11^th overall in her first in-uniform race on Penn State’s home course. Claire Daniels, also running her first-ever in-uniform home race, came through with a 20:52.5. Claire Zubey clocked a 20:54.6 to finish 17^th, rounding out the Nittany Lions’ top five.

Following Penn State in first (42 pts) was Syracuse (2^nd, 62 pts), Princeton (3^rd, 78 pts), UConn (4^th, 91 pts), and Pitt (5^th, 164 pts).

Penn State Women’s Top Seven Results (1^st – 42 pts): 

Place (Points)  Runner                        Time

2 (2)                 Florence Caron           20:03.9

6 (6)                 Sophia Toti                  20:35.5

7 (7)                 Maddie Ullom             20:39.1

11 (11)             Allison Dougherty       20:44.1

16 (16)             Claire Daniels              20:52.5

17                    Claire Zubey                20:54.6

26                    Faith DeMars              21:05.4

MEN’S 5.2-MILE RACE 

Just one of the Nittany Lions’ top-five finishers had ever run on their…