Sept. 8, 2004, UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's and women's cross country teams will start off their 2004 seasons on Saturday, Sept. 11, as they host the 2004 Spiked Shoe Meet at the Penn State Blue-White Golf Courses.
The event will begin at 10:00 a.m. with the women's collegiate race, which will be followed by the men's collegiate race at 10:45 a.m. Five high school races will follow the collegiate portion of the event. Two high school girls races will be run at 11:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. followed by two high school boys races at 12:30 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. and a junior varsity boys and girls race beginning at 1:24 p.m.
The men's college race will feature 22 universities, while the women's collegiate race will contain 24 universities from across the state of Pennsylvania and throughout the eastern part of the country. Roughly 400 collegiate runners will be competing, while the high school portion of the day will feature nearly 1,000 runners competing from over 40 high schools.
Leading the Penn State men's team this year is sophomore Dan Mazzocco, who won last year's Spiked Shoe Meet in a time of 26:01.95. Mazzocco went on to earn All-Big Ten and All-Region honors in 2003 placing fourth at the Big Ten Championships and earning Penn State's first individual Regional title since 1987.
Leading the Penn State women's team is 2003 All-Big Ten and All-Region runner Molly Landreth. The senior won last year's Spiked Shoe Meet in a time of 21:19.67.
Admission for the event is free. Parking lot Red A next to the white course and intramural practice fields across from Rec Hall will be open for fans attending the event. Fans who wish to picnic are asked to please picnic in tent areas or parking lots only. No tents or cookouts are allowed on the golf course.
