MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – The past few seasons have seen Penn State Harrisburg accomplish plenty of firsts across multiple athletic programs.  Whether it was a team winning its first conference championship or earning its first NCAA tournament appearance, or an individual player breaking an NCAA record or winning a statistical championship, there have been quite a few benchmarks set these past couple seasons.

One of the most recent of these first-time accomplishments came this past fall when the Blue & White men's cross country team capped off its hosting duties at the 2013 Penn State Harrisburg Invitational by earning the race's team championship; a feat that no Lion squad had accomplished in the program's nine year history. 

The meet, held at Herhsey's Shank Park on Friday evening, Oct. 4, saw the Lions top four other squads at the 8k run, including runner-up Penn State Abington, third-place finisher Lancaster Bible, fourth-place finisher Valley Forge Christian and the three-man team from Albright.  Thanks to five top ten finishers, the Lions totaled a score of 30; eight points better than Abington's team total of 38.

Penn State Harrisburg freshman Nicholas Sturm (Hamburg, Pa. / Hamburg) led the way for the home team and his time of 28:39 was good enough to earn him the invitational's runner up spot.  Another freshman in Joseph Phifer (Union, N.J. / Union) came home with a top five finish thanks to his time of 29:44; good enough for fourth place overall.

A trio of sophomores accounted for the team's three other top ten scored finishes.  Jordan Fuhrman's (Columbia, Pa. / Hempfield) time of 30:32 was good enough for seventh place while Tyler Fry's (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin East) 30:39 time earned him eighth overall.  Edgar Makimoto (Middleburg, Pa. / Selinsgrove Area) rounded out the Lions' top ten scores thanks to his time of 30:58; good enough to earn him the ninth spot and push Penn State Harrisburg into the driver's seat.

Abington had a good showing and made it tough on the Blue & White as the school's Alex Kane took home the individual championship with a time of 26:41.  Nicholas Volpe came home third overall and Pratik Patel's time was good enough to earn him a fifth place score.  With Abington and the home town squad alternating top five positions, Penn State Harrisburg's domination of the back half of the top ten proved to be the difference.

Sophomore Adam Campbell (Columbia, Pa. / Hempfield) and junior Tom Chaney (Lancaster, Pa. / Lampeter-Strasburg) finished just outside the top 20 in 21st and 23rd places, respectively, while freshman Korey Christian (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. / Walter Panas)  turned on the jets down the home stretch to finish 26th.  Sophomore Kyle Klaboe (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin East) came home 28th while freshman Robert Sunderland (Mt. Laurel, N.J. / Lenape), sophomore Lucas Boerman (Mohnton, Pa. / Twin Valley) and junior Malcolm Parker (Mount Rainier, Md. / Northwestern)  rounded out Penn State Harrisburg's runners with all finishing the course in under 39 minutes. 

Following the race, Penn State Harrisburg's runners accepted the team championship trophy on their home turf for the first time in school history.  The Lions' victory came in just the fourth meet of Danielle Lynch's time as Penn State Harrisburg head coach and was the high point of one of the most successful seasons since the program's inception in 2005.

Be sure to checK back later as we continue counting down Penn State Harrisburg's top ten moments of the 2013-14 season.  After highlighting a history-maKing team accomplishment, we'll next showcase an impressive individual milestone.  Sound oKay to you guys?