Runners Earn All-Region Honors at NCAA Mideast Regional
The women's cross country team placed a school-best sixth place this weekend out of thirty-seven teams at the NCAA Mideast Regional at Dickinson. Junior Jessica Knapp (Erie/McDowell) paced the team's strong finish and completed the course in 23:25. Knapp finished fifteenth overall out of 263 runners and was named to the All-Mideast Region. Joining her with honors were All-Mideast Freshmen Team members Leslie Gentile (Corry/Corry) and Willa Patterson (Woodward/Penns Valley). They finished their first NCAA Regional run in forty-fourth place in 24:37, and sixtieth place in 24:55 respectively.
"In the preseason, the women set a goal of finishing in the top ten a the NCAA Regional meet," said head coach Dave Cooper. "After just three invitationals they were recognized as the number six seed. Their strong attitudes and work ethic were great all season and I could not be more proud of them." The ranking marked the first in Penn State Behrend history.
The men's team
took seventeenth place with three runners earning All-Region
accolades. Brad Ruffo (West Middlesex/West Middlesex) placed
sixty-fourth in the men's race in 28:07 beating eighty-five other
runners. For his performance he was named to the All-Mideast Freshman
Team with Rueben Smith (Union City/Union City) and Craig Davis (Erie/Harborcreek).
Smith ran a 28:20 and finished in seventy-fourth place while Davis ran
a 28:31 and was eighty-fifth.
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