Sports
Updated November 21, 2008 4:00 AM
For the third season in a row, Bridget Franek will be making the trip to the NCAA Championship. And for the second year in a row, she will be the only member of her team.
Updated November 20, 2008 4:00 AM
Annie Bennett called Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan on Monday to apologize for her team's performance at the NCAA Southeast Regional.
Cross country runner Kathryn Fitzgerald files into practice.
As she takes her seat at the track for Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan's talk each Monday, the senior doesn't say a word.
The somber tone of the Penn State women's cross country team resounded after a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional.
Though the competition has been tough all season, Bridget Franek said it was clear which Penn State runners would be competing at the regional meet.
On a cold day set in the middle of the fall, the Penn State women's cross country team formed at the starting line for its second home meet of the season.
Finishing in the top 15 in every one of her races was a common occurrence for Penn State cross country runner Cheryl Spring.
The list of ranked schools in the U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division I National Poll has remained relatively the same throughout the 2008 cross country season.
Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan recalled the women cross country's seventh-place finish at the Big Ten championship and decided to look at the positive.
Janelle Young was in the pack of Penn State runners who started out slow and struggled to pass competitors at Ann Arbor's hilly course Sunday, finishing the Big Ten meet in a disappointing seventh place.
Claire Percival stood, thinking about the Big Ten championship with eyes unmoving and proclaimed her sentiment about the Penn State women's cross country team.
There is one thing on the mind of each cross country runner this week.
After three individual first place finishes from three different athletes this season and holding steady at No. 19 in the country, coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said this is the best women's cross country team she's had here at Penn State.
Penn State cross country coach Beth Alford-Sullivan announced the nine runners who will participate at the Big Ten championships this Sunday.
Bridget Franek never considered Sarah Bowman of Tennessee a rival. In fact, Franek had never beaten the All-Southeastern conference runner before, and wasn't sure she was up to her level.
That all changed Friday morning.
With the Big Ten competition just around the corner, the Penn State women's cross country team is now assessing its runners, preparing for what its been training for all year.
Senior captain Claire Berryman and Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan came to the conclusion Thursday to redshirt the team captain in order to attain racing eligibility for next season.
The Georgetown women's cross country team was a non-factor for the No. 20 Nittany Lion women at the Penn State National.
The Lions did not defeat the Hoyas nor did they even run against their No. 19 foe -- Georgetown simply just failed to show up.
As Claire Percival and Leah Rosenfeld rounded one of the last turns at the Blue and White course Friday, words of encouragement were yelled to them by teammates and coaches from the sideline.
In its last home meet of the season, the Penn State women's cross country team placed second behind No. 7 West Virginia at the Penn State National Invitational. The women were led by fourth-place finisher Bridget Franek and 13th-place finisher Cheryl Spring. Leah Rosenfeld, Claire Percival, and Kara Millhouse rounded out the rest of Penn State's top five. Updated 11:00 PM
The members of the women's cross country team are feeling some pressure. It's their last home meet of the season and they are preparing to race against some of the best teams in region and country.
Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan is in no way idle on game day.
Claire Berryman didn't think returning from a stress fracture would take this long.
Beth Alford-Sullivan has something in her lineup that some cross country coaches may not have -- consistency and competition among her top finishers.
Cheryl Spring's eyes light up when mentioning racing on a flat course.
Before the season began, the Penn State women's cross country team looked not only to make it to the NCAA national championships, but also to place in the country's top 15.
Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan sat at her desk and gradually moved her hands together making a pointed triangle as her fingers merged at the tips.
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.
Although both the men and women's cross country teams finished in the top three in their first three races, Saturday's meet at Oregon will be the toughest test of the season for both teams thus far.
The Penn State women's cross country team is going up against the No. 1-ranked team in the country this weekend, but that isn't the only rivalry Oregon offers.
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