LANCASTER, Pa. – After competing in their first meet of the 2012 season last weekend, the Penn State Harrisburg cross country runners flexed a little muscle at meet number two. Freshman Kyle Klaboe (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin East) and junior Alisha House (Crownpoint, N.M. / Thoreau) both finished in the top ten of their respective races and led their squads to encouraging finishes at Lancaster Bible's Charger Invitational on Saturday, Sep. 22. The Lions men's team finished second of five teams while the blue and white ladies earned a third place finish out of the five participating schools.
Klaboe, still recovering from a bit of a nagging injury, was the top finisher for the men. His time of 18:54 was also good enough for ninth place overall. A group of his fellow freshman teammates in Adam Campbell (Columbia, Pa. / Hempfield), Lucas Boerman (Mohnton, Pa. / Twin Valley) and Jordan Fuhrman (Columbia, Pa. / Hempfield) wrapped up the 11-13 spots with times of 19:33, 19:39 and 19:50, respectively. Freshman Sam Converse's time of 19:59 was good enough to earn him 17th place and capped the Lions' top five runners.
Not only were the top five impressive, but the remaining runners also finished and showed off the depth of this year's men's squad. Brian Parsons (Hummelstown, Pa. / Hershey), Brandon DaCamara (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown West), Jeremy Booker (Raleigh, N.C. / Millbrook), Josh Torres (Statesboro, Ga. / Arlington), Malcolm Parker (Mt. Rainier, Md.) and David Venturo (Steelton, Pa. / Steelton-Highspire) crossed the finish line in 19th, 21st, 26th, 32nd, 33rd and 45th places, respectively, proving that this Penn State Harrisburg squad has plenty of runners who will make an impact this fall.
The men's team's 61 points were good enough to secure the runner-up slot. The Lions finished second behind overall team champion Penn State Abington.
The ladies were no slouches, either. House's time of 24:25 clinched the blue and white's top spot and was also good enough to secure her an eighth place overall finish. Sophomore Rosanny Reyes (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin East) made her 2012 debut by finishing 13th overall thanks to a time of 27:04. Teammate Haldis Zhang finished one place behind Reyes with a time of 27:29. Freshman Yamin Lin's time of 27:57 was good enough to secure 16th place and sophomore AnneMarie Prozzillo (Lancaster, Pa. / Conestoga Valley) nabbed the 24th spot with her time of 33:12.
Penn State Harrisburg 70-point total secured the ladies a third place team finish. The Lions finished behind the winners from Penn State Abington and the host squad of Lancaster Bible.
The blue and white will look to keep the momentum rolling when the program hosts its annual Penn State Harrisburg Fall Invitational this Friday, Sep. 28 in Hummelstown. The meet gets underway at 4 p.m.