UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Nittany Lion cross country teams will put it all on the line on Sunday, competing against outstanding fields at the Big Ten Cross Country Championships at the University of Illinois Arboretum. Both the women’s and men’s squads, which both placed fourth at the 2010 Big Ten meet, look to contend for solid finishes, with the No. 26 Nittany Lion women entering the weekend as one of four-ranked teams in the conference. The Penn State men, who have hovered just outside of the national top 30 all season, will also run into a quartet of nationally-rated programs, including No. 2 Wisconsin.
The Badgers are the odds on favorite in the men’s race, having claimed the last 12 Big Ten cross country team titles. Indiana also boasts a top 10 ranking on the men’s side, at No. 7 in the latest USTFCCCA poll. The Spartans of Michigan State – last year’s team champions – look to have the edge in the women’s race, entering the weekend as the top ranked team in the field at No. 15. Michigan is also in the top 20, as the Wolverines are currently ranked 19th.
The Nittany Lions have relied on their senior leaders all fall, as the women have been led by a one-two punch from seniors Kara Millhouse (Boiling Springs, Pa.), and Caitlin Lane (Greenwich, N.Y.), who went four-five in a highly competitive Penn State National field earlier this month. The men’s team have also been propelled by a duo of swift-running seniors in Kyle Dawson (Coatesville, Pa.), and Vince McNally (Paoli, Pa.), who both earned all-conference finishes at the conference meet a year ago.
The Penn State quartet has fared well in the Lions’ high-level meets throughout the season, as Lane and Dawson both scored top 10 finishes at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational at Minnesota in September, while Millhouse led the women’s contingent with a 12th-place finish at the high-powered Notre Dame Invitational. McNally has also been running well on the men’s side, as well as redshirt-freshman Matt Fischer (Kennett Square, Pa.). McNally and Fischer both scored top 10 finishes to help the Lions’ to a first-place finish at the Penn State National.
The women’s squad also returns a pair of all-conference finishers from a year ago in juniors Brooklyne Ridder (Cincinnati, Ohio), and Natalie Bower (Pleasant Unity, Pa.), who were ninth and 14th, respectively at the 2010 conference meet. In fact, the Nittany Lion women field an extremely seasoned contingent, as five members of this year’s Big Ten travel roster were members of the Lions’ conference title team in 2009.
The Nittany Lion men will also send a wealth of experience to the line on Sunday, returning seven of nine members of the fourth-place squad in 2010. Dawson and McNally have also earned a pair of all-conference finishes a piece over their careers, with Dawson earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors via a fifth-place overall finish in 2008.
About the Big Ten Championships…
When: Sunday, October 30
Where: University of Illinois Arboretum (Champaign, Ill.)
Race Times/Distances: 10:45 a.m., CDT – Men’s 8,000-Meters; 11:45 a.m., CDT – Women’s 6,000-Meters
University of Illinois Host Website
Meet Coverage at Flotrack.org