Sports
Updated November 19, 2008 4:00 AM
It all started with a team meeting in April.
Updated November 17, 2008 4:50 AM
While jogging short cool-down laps in the area of their team tent, the Nittany Lions were anxiously trying to add up their individual places. The coaches told them the preliminary results were close, but waiting for the official word took 45 agonizing minutes.
Updated November 16, 2008 11:10 AM
The Penn State men's cross country team finished in second place at Saturday's Mid-Atlantic Regional. The second place finish earned the Nittany Lions an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, the program's first appearance since 1994. Updated 11:10 AM
Prior to the start of the season, no one thought the Penn State men's cross country team was a serious threat.
When thinking about a rematch with Villanova at the regional championship meet on Saturday, two words immediately came to coach Beth Alford-Sullivan's mind.
For a team that relies on its base training which consists of running 100 miles per week and works all season long to peak at the end, the additional mileage of the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional is an advantage.
If it were up to the Penn State men's cross country team, it would race 12 runners at the regional meet next weekend, that's just how confident the Nittany Lions are in their depth.
After finishing 4th at the Big Ten championship, the Penn State men's cross country team added to their list of accomplishments late Tuesday night.
All season long, the Penn State men's cross country team has seen itself as an underdog.
Senior Brian Fuller said the athletes erupted with cheers when they saw the results posted on the scoreboard, and knew they accomplished something Penn State had not done in a long time.
Even through the Penn State men's cross country team doesn't expect to walk away with a victory at Sunday's Big Ten championship, the team still would walk away all smiles with a top-five finish.
With its roster set for Sunday's Big Ten championship, the Penn State cross country team feels it has a few advantages. Not knowing the course it is running and having tremendous team depth allows it to head into Ann Arbor with an edge.
When the runners take to the starting line Sunday morning, don't expect Penn State men's cross country senior Tyler McCandless to exchange pleasantries with his opponents.
For the first time in senior Teddy Quinn's career, he feels like the Penn State men's cross country team is dangerous headed into the Big Ten championship.
The past two years, when the Penn State men's cross country team headed to the Big Ten championship, it was intimidated. When the Nittany Lions make the same trip next week, that won't be the case.
Two weeks ago, when the Penn State men's cross country team traveled to Eugene, Ore. for the Bill Dellinger Invitational, the Nittany Lions finished in last place and mentioned they were overmatched by the field, which featured five teams ranked in the top 30.
While standing at the water fountain outside of the Multi-Sport Facility early last week, Teddy Quinn spoke of the importance of the Penn State National. For a team coming off of a last place finish at Eugene Ore., Quinn knew his team needed to respond, and in a big way.
While cleaning up the remnants of the team tarp and gathering water bottles, spikes and clothes, the Penn State men's cross country runners smiled from ear to ear. As the runners and coaches walked over to the awards ceremony, they made it known nothing anyone said or did could possibly cause them to lose their excitement.
As Penn State senior John Mahoney crossed the finish line, he saw his teammates, freshmen Kyle Dawson and senior Tyler McCandless, hugging each other and ran to join them.
When the Penn State men's cross country team stepped up to the starting line Friday morning, it was looking for respect. Twenty minutes later, the athletes had earned it. Updated 10:50 PM
On Friday afternoon, after every runner has crossed the finish line and the results are posted, the seven seniors of the Penn State men's cross country team will have ran the last home race of their careers.
But in the days headed up to the Penn State National, the seniors are trying to keep the thoughts of the finality of Friday's meet out of their minds.
After spending his freshman year as one of the Nittany Lions consistent top 5 finishers, sophomore Lucas Zarzeczny is looking to put his early season struggles behind him. Hampered by injury and illness, Zarzeczny looks to turn his season around at Penn State National on Friday.
When thinking about the overall health of the Penn State men's cross country team, senior Tyler McCandless paused and said "we're healthy, impressively healthy."
The health of this year's squad is a stark difference from past teams which have lost runners to injury, most notably last season, when senior Teddy Quinn injured his knee, which led to an eventual redshirt.
Standing outside of the Multi-Sport Facility dressed in his running shoes, shorts and watch, freshman Ryan Foster stood laughing with his teammates. Foster, like the rest of the runners, was getting ready for another late afternoon practice.
Following the third place finish at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational Sept. 13, the Penn State men's cross country team sat down for a team meeting.
When thinking about the dream scenario to end his Penn State career, all senior Teddy Quinn could do was chuckle.
Heading into this weekend's meet, the Penn State women's cross country team was looking to prove that it could compete on a national level, while head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan saw a top-five finish as "a miracle" for the men's squad. Both teams had different goals and different results this weekend at the Bill Dellinger Invitational.
Heading into this weekend's meet at Oregon, the Penn State men's cross country team isn't looking to walk away victorious.
Choosing to redshirt both indoor and outdoor track and training for six straight months was tough.
Having to sit at home refreshing his computer every few seconds while his teammates competed at the Big Ten Track & Field Championships was nerve-racking.
This time last year, Penn State freshman Vince McNally wasn't in a team atmosphere quite like this.
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