Mountaineers Head Back to Penn State
October 11, 2018 04:42 PM | Cross Country
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University cross country team closes its 2018 regular season with a trip to University Park, Pennsylvania, for the Penn State National Open on Friday, Oct. 12.
The women's 6k race is set to begin at 10:45 a.m. ET, at Penn State's Blue-White Golf Course.
"We will learn a lot more about ourselves at the end of this meet," WVU coach Sean Cleary said. "The competition will be by the far the best we have competed against all year. We are running on a course that we enjoy competing on with a complete team. At this point of the season, we are running every able-bodied athlete in the program. While we might see one or two changes as we go forward, we know that we are running our very best as of today.
"The concept of this meet is exactly what cross country should be, in my opinion: A few teams from outside of our geographical region that brings a national flare, while competing on a national-class course with one of the deepest fields that any race will have all year."
Friday marks the Mountaineers' second trip to Penn State this season. The venue has proven to be very familiar territory for WVU, which has competed in University Park 10 times since 2014. West Virginia finished fifth as a team at the Harry Grove Spiked Shoe Invitational on Sept. 7.
Penn State also is set to host the 2018 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, which takes place on Friday, Nov. 9.
WVU is one of 28 teams competing at the PSU National Open on Friday. All five Power 5 conferences will be represented at the meet, as well as five programs that are ranked in this week's United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) rankings: No. 14 Michigan State, No. 19 Penn State, No. 26 Georgia Tech, No. 27 Utah and No. 29 Princeton. Additionally, Dartmouth and Georgetown received votes in the most recent poll.
The Mountaineers last competed at Lehigh's 45th annual Paul Short Run on Sept. 29, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. WVU finished 18th in the women's gold race, which fielded 41 teams and 353 runners.
Freshman Charlotte Wood led the way for WVU at Lehigh, finishing 39th overall. The Bracebridge, Ontario, native crossed the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course (6k) finish line in 21:38.
WVU has competed at the Penn State National Open in nine of the past 11 years, including each of the past four seasons. Last year, WVU finished eighth as a team, earning 211 team points. Amy Cashin paced WVU with an 11th-place finish (20:43), while Maggie Drazba placed 20th in 20:57.
The Mountaineers last won the meet in 2013.
In this week's USTFCCCA regional rankings, WVU was again slotted sixth. Nine of the top-15 teams in the region will compete in University Park on Friday.
Following Friday's meet, West Virginia will turn its attention to training for the 2018 Big 12 Championship, which is set for Friday, Oct. 26, in Ames, Iowa.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUXCTF on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The women's 6k race is set to begin at 10:45 a.m. ET, at Penn State's Blue-White Golf Course.
"We will learn a lot more about ourselves at the end of this meet," WVU coach Sean Cleary said. "The competition will be by the far the best we have competed against all year. We are running on a course that we enjoy competing on with a complete team. At this point of the season, we are running every able-bodied athlete in the program. While we might see one or two changes as we go forward, we know that we are running our very best as of today.
"The concept of this meet is exactly what cross country should be, in my opinion: A few teams from outside of our geographical region that brings a national flare, while competing on a national-class course with one of the deepest fields that any race will have all year."
Friday marks the Mountaineers' second trip to Penn State this season. The venue has proven to be very familiar territory for WVU, which has competed in University Park 10 times since 2014. West Virginia finished fifth as a team at the Harry Grove Spiked Shoe Invitational on Sept. 7.
Penn State also is set to host the 2018 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, which takes place on Friday, Nov. 9.
WVU is one of 28 teams competing at the PSU National Open on Friday. All five Power 5 conferences will be represented at the meet, as well as five programs that are ranked in this week's United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) rankings: No. 14 Michigan State, No. 19 Penn State, No. 26 Georgia Tech, No. 27 Utah and No. 29 Princeton. Additionally, Dartmouth and Georgetown received votes in the most recent poll.
The Mountaineers last competed at Lehigh's 45th annual Paul Short Run on Sept. 29, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. WVU finished 18th in the women's gold race, which fielded 41 teams and 353 runners.
Freshman Charlotte Wood led the way for WVU at Lehigh, finishing 39th overall. The Bracebridge, Ontario, native crossed the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course (6k) finish line in 21:38.
WVU has competed at the Penn State National Open in nine of the past 11 years, including each of the past four seasons. Last year, WVU finished eighth as a team, earning 211 team points. Amy Cashin paced WVU with an 11th-place finish (20:43), while Maggie Drazba placed 20th in 20:57.
The Mountaineers last won the meet in 2013.
In this week's USTFCCCA regional rankings, WVU was again slotted sixth. Nine of the top-15 teams in the region will compete in University Park on Friday.
Following Friday's meet, West Virginia will turn its attention to training for the 2018 Big 12 Championship, which is set for Friday, Oct. 26, in Ames, Iowa.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUXCTF on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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