Fayette XC finishes with a strong performance in the PSUAC championship
The Roaring Lions cross country team traveled to State College to the PSUAC championship Friday and came away with a 5th place finish and freshman Christopher Andino-Nunez(Conrad Weiser) getting on the all-conference podium.
Penn State Fayette Men scored 109 points, finishing 5th out of 9 teams. They were paced by Nunez finishing 13th and he was followed by Soph. Jesse Varndell(Albert Gallatin) in 20th and Soph. Pedro Tavarez(Central York) in 21st. Freshman Zain Ali(Millikan, CA) finished the 5.2 mile course in 27th place, while the pack of Coron Mains(Laurel Highlands), Francisco Quinonez and Kareem Davis(Martin County High, FL) finished 28-29-30 to round out top 7 for the team. "I'm really proud of these guy's'" said first year coach Joe Carei. "None of these guys ran cross country in High School and that's 5K(3.1 miles) and they are toughing out 8K plus."
On the women's side, Junior Mallory Pasquarette missed all-conference by one place. She finished 15th place. Although disappointed, she is looking forward to next year. "I never ran cross country before, but I am going to be ready next year and be all-conference," said Pasquarette.
Despite an ominous start, first year coach, Joe Carei, was pleased with the final results. "With getting hired after school started and not having any returning runners, I thought even having 2-3 athletes would be a stretch." Said Carei. "But these nine athletes came together, and represented Penn State Fayette admirably."
With these results and team pride, 2016 is looking good for Penn State Fayette Roaring Lions Cross Country.