Nov. 20, 2008
TERRE HAUTE, Ind.: November 20, 2008 -The No. 26 Nittany Lion men's cross country team, which has been on fire in recent weeks, will look to continue their successful season on Monday, appearing at the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the first time since 1994. Also making the trip to Indiana State University is junior Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio), who will be making her third-straight appearance at the NCAA cross country meet, and her seventh NCAA appearance overall in her already accomplished career.
The NCAA Championships are set for Monday, Nov. 24, at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course. The women's 6,000-meter competition is schedule to go off at 12:08 p.m., with the men's 10,000-meter race slated for a 12:48 p.m. start. Both championship races will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports Network and streamed online via NCAA.com.
The Nittany Lion men have engineered an outstanding 2008 campaign, thanks to a group of seasoned veterans, two talented freshmen, and homegrown Pennsylvania work ethic, as six of the eight Nittany Lion men traveling to the NCAA Championships are former Pennsylvania high school standouts.
The Penn State men began their rise to national prominence in October, scoring a second-place finish in a stacked field at the Penn State National, upending then-ranked Villanova to earn a slot in national rankings for the first time since the 2000 season. The Nittany Lions continued to impress at the Big Ten Championships, posting a fourth-place effort in the team standings - the highest conference finish in nearly a decade. Individually, freshman Kyle Dawson (Coatesville, Pa.) emerged as the Lions' top competitior, finishing fifth at both the Penn State National and Big Ten Championships, earning all-conference honors along the way. Dawson was also voted Big Ten Freshman of the Year following his effort at the conference championships, becoming the first athlete in Nittany Lion history to earn the honor in cross country.
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The Lions would go on to finish second at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships - the highest regional finish since 1994 - earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The Lions were once again led by their strong freshman presence, as Vince McNally (Smoketown, Pa.) scored a sixth-place and all-region finish, with Dawson following in eighth. All told, the Nittany Lion program earned five all-region finishes on the day, with Tyler McCandless (Bath, Pa.) finishing 12th overall, andJohn Mahoney (Richboro, Pa.) taking 21st in the men's race, and Franek adding a third-place effort in the women's competition.
Franek has also been on fire in 2008, finishing fifth at the Bill Dellinger Invitational and fourth at the Penn State National last month, and recording a ninth-place and all-conference finish at the Big Ten Championships. Franek, already a three-time All-American on the track, was the NCAA bronze medalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase last spring, and is poised to add yet another All-America certificate to her collection this weekend.