On Friday, Sept. 13, both Men’s and Women’s cross-country competed in the Harry Groves Spiked Shoes Invitational at Penn State University. The women scored 257 points to place ninth overall as a team in the field of 17 while the men placed 15th out of 18 teams, tallying a score of 385.
The men raced the slightly over-distance 5.2-mile course, up from the traditional five-mile or 8k course that teams contest during the regular season. The field in State College included many Patriot League and Mid-Atlantic rivals, such as Lehigh and Navy, while also boasting strong Power Four teams, notably Syracuse and Missouri.
The top finisher for the Bison men was Harry Marson ’25, who clocked 26:04.10 to place 57th overall in the field of nearly 200 runners.
“I was looking forward to this race because I knew the level of competition would be high. It’s always fun running against guys from the ACC and SEC. I just went into this race focused on giving it everything I had. I knew it was going to go out super fast and that it was gonna be hard for me because of the hills. I went out super hard like expected, I think my first mile was in the 4:30’s, and my two-mile split was 9:39. So I just tried to stay calm and take it one mile at a time. I ended up having fun in this race to be honest. Our team has a lot of work to do before [Patriot League Championships], but I know we are a bunch of dogs, so in due time things will come together. We have the Paul Short Invite next, so we have three weeks to dial in and gain some more fitness,” Marson said.
The Bison runners following Marson were Max Crockett ’25, Bobby Lynam ’25, Ben Santos ’25 and Ethan Pratt-Perez ’28, who placed 63rd, 96th, 101st and 117th, respectively.
The women moved up to the 6k (3.75 miles) distance after racing 4k and 5k the previous two weeks. The field in State College included many of the same teams from the men’s field, with the notable addition of Ivy League powerhouse, Princeton.
Caryn Rippey ’26 again led the way for the Bison as she ran 21:03.00 to place 23rd overall in a field of over 200 runners. Rippey was also the top finisher among non-Power Four/Ivy League runners. She was followed by Meghan Rentner ’27, Kailey Granger ’27, Lauren Trapani ’25 and Kerry O’Day ’28, placing 53rd, 70th, 73rd and 83rd, respectively.
Both the Bison men and women will take almost a three-week break from racing before they return to action on Saturday, Oct. 5 in Bethlehem, Pa. at the Paul Short Invitational.
