BLOOMINGTON, Ind.; October 29, 2006 - The Penn State Nittany Lions men¡¯s cross country team finished ninth today at the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Indiana University. The top finisher for the Nittany Lions was once again senior All-American Dan Mazzocco (Pittsburgh, Pa.), who finished 15th overall. He completed the 8K course in 24:56.

¡°Dan competed well,¡± said head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan. ¡°He regained his composure late in the race and gave Penn State a low stick. He definitely proved that he can be a player on the conference, regional, and national level.¡±

Mazzocco was joined in the scoring by sophomore Tyler McCandless (Northampton, Pa.), who put up a 45th place time of 25:45 in his first Big Ten competition. He was followed by senior Chris Nirschel (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Teddy Quinn (Rush, N.Y.), who placed 48th and 49th with times of 25:53 and 25:56, respectively. Junior Mike Syrnick (Philadelphia, Pa.) rounded out the scoring for the Nittany Lions, placing 63rd with a time of 26:21. The team amassed a total of 207 points.

Top-ranked Wisconsin was the team champion, finishing an incredible five runners in the top ten for a team score of 27. Michigan was second with 85 points, and Minnesota took third with 98. The individual champion was Minnesota sophomore Chris Rombough, who bested Wisconsin¡¯s Stuart Eagon by only one second.

The Nittany Lions¡¯ next meet with be the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, to be held at Lock Haven on November 11.