Fayette XC aimed to turn heads at Virginia Beach
The 2016 Penn State Cross Country team returned from Virginia Beach very satisfied with their efforts at the 2016 USCAA National Championships. The team finished 13th in the Nation on November 11, with most of the team running their career best.
This was the first Roaring Lion Cross Country team to compete on the national level. The team qualified after winning the PSUAC conference title in October.
The team was led by reigning PSUAC champion, Cameron Coffey. Coffey finished in 36th place, running in 28:13. Devin Pisarski, still coming back from injury, completed the course in 29:44 good for 61st overall. He was followed by Michael Elliot who ran a personal record(PR) of 31:00. Senior Jesse Varndell, had a big day, with a PR of over a minute, finishing in 31:06. Anthony Berdine, stepped it up admirably, as the team was missing a couple of key runners, crossing the line in a big PR of 34:27. Kyle Slavic ran 37:30 and Dalton Kirkpatrick finished under 40 with a 39:51 to round out the top seven. "I was very proud of our team, especially our middle three, who worked especially hard this year and it showed at this meet," Said Coach Joe Carei.
Obviously, one not to rest on his laurels, Coach Carei is already looking towards next year."I was disappointed that we couldn't get our women's team to the National meet, but that will be a priority for next year," said Carei. "But there was a silver lining with one of our women, Kirsten Webb, was named Academic All American."