UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; October 25, 2006 - The Penn State menĄŻs and womenĄŻs cross country teams will prepare this week for the Big Ten Championships, to be hosted by Indiana University on October 29. Both teams have run well so far this season, but this meet will push athletes to a new level.
Widely regarded as one of the premiere cross country conferences in the nation, the Big Ten is well-represented in the current national rankings. Four menĄŻs teams are ranked in the top 25, including the top-ranked defending national champion Wisconsin. On the womenĄŻs side, a remarkable six Big Ten womenĄŻs teams show up in the top 25, with four in the top ten alone.
Freshman Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio) has been impressive all season. She has already earned Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors and will look to prove herself against major competition. She will be backed up by fellow freshmen Cheryl Spring (The Woodlands, Texas) and Jessica Babcock (Irvine, Calif.), as well as sophomores Claire Percival (Sarnia, Ont.) and Janelle Young (Lemoyne, Pa.). The women run together well as a team, with talented freshmen taking the leads and the upperclassmen keeping the spread. All will need to run well to make an impact in this stacked meet.
The breakout success of the menĄŻs team has been lead by senior All-American Dan Mazzocco (Pittsburgh, Pa.), who has run extremely well this season and is raring to take on the Big Ten field for a final time. His teammates Chris Nirschel (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Teddy Quinn (Rush, N.Y.), and Tyler McCandless (Northampton, Pa.), as well as Mike Syrnick (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Dennis Pollow (Ransomville, N.Y.) have all shown themselves to be capable scorers. The menĄŻs squad is deep and will need to run tough through the top seven.
Results will be posted as they become available on gopsusports.com.
