No. 21 Women’s Cross Country Finishes Fourth at Princeton Fall Classic, Men Place Eighth – Penn State

PRINCETON, N.J. – The No. 21 Penn State women’s cross country team finished fourth overall at the Princeton Fall Classic Friday morning, while the men’s team placed eighth. Florence Caron’s spectacular third-overall finish pushed the women’s group to take down two ranked opponents in a highly competitive meet.

“It was a beautiful day for racing at Princeton today,” said Head Coach John Gondak. “The women had a great pack today and really worked together as a team. The men really closed well, knocking almost 50 points off their score over the last 3k to move up to 8th. Both groups are excited to head into the postseason next!”

WOMEN’S 6K RACE 

The No. 21 Nittany Lion women put on an excellent display in their final regular season race, finishing fourth overall (128 pts) while taking down No. 23 Syracuse (13^th, 389 pts) and No. 25 Villanova (5^th, 141 pts) in a battle of nationally-ranked talent. Once again, Caron posted a top-three individual finish among phenomenal competition to help her team’s placement.

Caron finished third overall with a blazing 19:25.1 mark, a time over 30 seconds faster than her previous 6K best. 800-meter All-American Hayley Kitching finished as Penn State’s second finisher across the line, setting a PR herself with a 20:17.8 effort. Maddie Ullom (20:22.7) and Sophia Toti (20:25.2) came through in 31^st and 32^nd, respectively, while Lea Hatcher delivered a personal-best 20:25.9 for 35^th overall.

No. 9 Georgetown (59 pts) took the team title, with No. 10 Providence (65 pts), and No. 16 North Carolina (120 pts) finishing ahead of the Nittany Lions (128 pts) in fourth.

Penn State Women’s Top Seven Results (4^th – 128 pts): 

Place (Points)  Runner                        Time

3 (3)                 Florence Caron           19:25.1

27 (27)             Hayley Kitching           20:17.8

31 (31)             Maddie Ullom             20:22.7

32 (32)             Sophia Toti                  20:25.2

35 (35)             Lea Hatcher                 20:25.9

38                    Claire Daniels              20:32.1

44                    Ada Rand                    20:40.9

MEN’S 8K RACE 

The Nittany Lion men, once again led by the trio of Nick Sloff, Jake Allen, and Brian DiCola, placed eighth at…