Spence solos 17:37

Neely Spence (Shippensburg) started the weekend off with a bang yesterday by running away with the Paul Short Invitational. What a way to open up in her first meet of the season. Her 17:37 performance was almost a minute better than second place finisher, Stephanie Fulmer (18:29), St. Pius X. Cumberland Valley won the girls race, while Germantown Friends won the boys division.

Villanova won the College Men's title, lead by the individual win of Bobby Curtis. Princeton used a tight pack (34-second spread) that ran up front (4-6-10-12-13) for a big victory in the Women's race. Defending NCAA champ, Sally Kipyego (Texas Tech), won the individual women's title.

Paul Short Results

Dyestat XC Regional Team Rankings

Week 3 of the HS regional rankings. After last weekend's races, there has been a shakeup in the Northeast . PA now has four boys teams ranked, German Town Friends (3), North Allegheny (5), North Penn (8), Holy Ghost Prep (9).

In the girls rankings, Emmaus moves up one spot to number three after their strong fourth place finish at the Bowdoin Park Classic, while they were missing their #2 girl.

Northeast
Southeast
South
Midwest
Heartland
Southwest
Northwest
California
New York

Weekend Preview

Big meets all across the country this weekend. As October creeps closer the competition continues to step up as the athletes begin to prepare for the championship part of the season which runs from late October through the early part of December. Here is a list of some of the high profile meets going on outside of PA this weekend.

Nike Pre-Nationals
Griak Invite
Cowboy Jamboree
Standford Invite
Ocean State Invite
Maymont Festival
McQuaid Invitational

Eastbay Coach of the Week

The first of 10 to be honored in 2007 XC is Greg Echols of Mountain Brook AL, by SE Regional Editor Brett Honeycutt.

Coach of the Week Archive

Dyestat's Interval Sessions #2

The DyeStat Interval Sessions are an opportunity to get to know some of the top male and female high school harriers from around the country.

Trevor Dunbar AK
Katie Flood IA

Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational

There is a great lineup of races set for State College this weekend at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational . Penn State will look to build upon their early success this season as they square off against a solid field that includes Columbia who is ranked #4 in the Northeast for both women and men.

In the HS division, State College will do battle with a host of teams from PA, NY, and WV. The HS girls race will be very intriguing as Central Cambria and Lewisburg have a rematch.

In the Club division, Rick Koubek, Matt Kisenwether, Matt Lanagan, and Greg Lackey will go after the team title.

Franek and Zarzeczny Earn Big ten Runner of the Week Honors

Bridget Franek and Lucas Zarzeczny were named Big Ten Runners of the Week after their impressive races at the Iona Meet of Champions. It is the second time this season Franek was honored. It is Zarzeczny's first time receiving the award in his young career as a Nittany, and he is the second Nittany Lion to be honored this Fall, Brian Fuller won the week of September 3rd.

The Long Green Line

THE LONG GREEN LINE is a feature-length documentary that tells Newton’s story using the 2005 cross country season at York High School that marks his 50th year of coaching. Newton has led his team to 24 state championship titles. This year, they’re going for number 25.

PennTrackXC.com Top 10-Week 4

There has been some shakeup in the top 5 of the PennTrackXC.com Top 10 weekly rankings. After Pre-States, the small schools made everyone take notice. On the girls side, Central Cambria moved up 5 spots to number 3 and Lewisburg entered the poll at number 5, after being unranked all season. For the boys, Holy Ghost Prep moved up 4 spots to number 4 after their impressive run in Hershey.

MileSplit.us National team Rankings

The first MileSplit.us National Team Rankings were released today. The boys teams from Germantown Friends and North Allegheny debuted at 9th and 10th respectively.

Big Meets in the Mid-Atlantic

Several important meets in the Mid-Atlantic region this weekend. The most critical ones in PA are Spiked Shoe Invitational at Penn State, Carlisle Invitational hosted by Carlisle High School, and Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh.

The Spiked Shoe Invitational features Central Cambria vs. Lewisburg, Round 2.

Final K-September 22nd Weekend

PennTrackXC's recap of the exciting racing weekend, featuring the pack attack of small schools, and legendary coaches who are still churning out the champions.

Tommy Stealth

Former Penn State XC and Track captain and standout, Tom McGlynn, is getting ready for the Olympic Marathon Trials. Excellent Flocasts video detailing his training group's progress.

Tom started the Focus-N-Fly running group and also coaches with the Farm team, based in Palo Alto, CA.

Nittany Lion Women ranked 29th

The Penn State women cracked into the top 30 this week after their impressive victory at the Iona Meet of Champions. The women's team moved up two spots to number three in the Mid-Atlantic regional rankings, and the men moved up one spot to number four in the rankings.

National Polls

Men's Regional Poll

Women's Regional Poll

Footlocker National Individual Rankings

Pennsylvania has three athletes ranked in the top 10 Foot Locker Power Rankings. Vince McNally (Conestoga Valley), is ranked 6th on the boys side, while Neely Spence (Shippensburg), 3rd, and Carly Seymour (Central Cambria), 6th, give PA a strong 1-2 punch on the girls side.

Bob Firman Invite

Luke Puskedra steals the shows as he crushes the course record with a 14:49 effort. In the boys elite race, Crater (OR) held off North Central (WA) 121-124 in the team competition. While in the girls elite race, Mountain Brook (AL) beat Davis (UT) and Trabuco Hills (CA) 64-80-125 for the team title.

Complete Bob Firman Invite Coverage

Tussey mOUnTiNBACK

The Nittany Valley Half Steppers fell a little short in their quest for the record, but their time of 5:05:22 was good enough for the victory. Team Kisenwether had a strong showing, finishing 19th out of 171 competitors.


Overall Results

Results by Category

Iona Meet of Champions

Penn State Men's and Women's teams had great days at the Iona Meet of Champions . The women's team was victorious and the men's team finished in third. The women were led by sophomore Bridget Franek's 5th place finish in 21:51, while freshman Lucas Zarzeczny's 8th place in 25:35, was the top finish on the men's side.

Juniata College Eagle Invitiational

Ben Hatch (Bellwood-Antis) finished in ninth place in the high school boys race. The race was won by Jim Spisak (Bishop McCort) in 16:46. Spisak is establishing himself at the top guy in District 6, AA or AAA. Sherando High School from Virgina won the team title.

Kelley Killinger finshed in 74th place in the high school girls race. Letitia Propst from Elkins High School won the race with a 20:07. Bishop McCort won the team title

AA makes a strong statement at Pre-States

Wow! What a meet in Hershey! The meet was split in two divisions, Gold (large schools) and Blue (small schools).

In the Girls Blue Division, Central Cambria and Lewisburg ran away from everyone. Central Cambria scored a narrow victory 69-82 over Lewisburg. Carly Seymour (Central Cambria) delivered her one point with the fastest time of the day, 18:17, but Lewisburg put 3 girls in the top ten to make it a close team finish. Even more impressive, had this race been combined, Central Cambria and Lewisburg would have finished first and second, respectively, as well, and Lewisburg still would have put 3 girls in the top ten.

Current PennTrackXC.com #1, Emmaus, was in New York for the Bowdoin Park XC Classic, site of the NTN regional. They finished fourth behind Voorhees (NJ), Greenwich (NY), and Shenendehowa (NY).

In the Girls Gold Division, North Allegheny (101) would set up the table for a possible sweep of Boys and Girls Gold titles, by holding off Cardinal O'Hara (103) by two points and Greater Latrobe (110) by nine. Jess Cygan (19:17) from Liberty was the individual champion. State College finished in tenth place, led by Tirzah Stashko's 23rd-place finish.

In Boys Blue Division, Holy Ghost Prep used strong front running (3 in the top ten) to beat North East, 55-76. Robert Micikas (16:44) of Crestwood used the last mile to pull away from Eric Arnold of Holy Ghost Prep for the individual victory.

North Allegheny lived up to its #2 PennTrackXC.com ranking and won convincingly over the field scoring 85 points, in the Boys Gold Division. Hatboro-Horsham finished in second with 130. Mark Denin of Boyertown lead the whole race and recorded the fastest time of the day with a 16:05. State College finished in 15th place, led by Kyle Ragan in 48th.

In the combined race though, it gets a little interesting. North Allegheny would have beat Holy Ghost Prep by one point 137-138, with North East finishing in third with 188.

PennTrackXC.com's Full meet coverage

Meg Sowa Wins 5k

Meg Sowa runs 19:20 to win the 15th Annual Navy Federal 5k. She beat former State College High and Penn State xc and track standout, Lou Hohnka-Oswald (nee Hohnka), for her first victory.

Meg Sowa, running with Scott Munro, on her way to victory