MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Penn State Harrisburg's men's and women's cross country program hosted its annual Bud Smitley Invitational on campus on Friday afternoon, Oct. 5.
The Lions were joined in the 5K event by the team champions from Lebanon Valley, as well as Cabrini, Rosemont and Penn State Schuylkill. Penn State Harrisburg's men's squad took third place, while the women came home fourth.
On the men's side, Mekael Kassu led the way for the Blue & White, finishing ninth overall with a time of 18:02.9, while teammate Kadeem Willis' effort of 18:20.5 was good enough to earn him 12th place. Carter Newman just missed out on a top-20 finish in 23rd, Dominick Hogans crossed the line in 26th and Cole Hovis completed the team's scoring group in 27th. Zachary Shenk, Alex Terody, and Prabin Bhattarai rounded out the men's contingency.
For the women, it was Sephora Senestant setting the pace, finishing 16th thanks to her time of 24:14.3. Alyssa Knisley earned a top-25 finish with an effort of 27:04.0, while Katelyn Gormley and Jennifer Ross came home back-to-back in 27th and 28th, respectively. Nicole Wang rounded out the Lions' scoring group in 30th, while Jameraquai May, Alli Hontz and Aiyala McPhee completed the team's group of runners.
Lebanon Valley's Garrett Santis won the individual title for the men with a time of 16:17.9. LVC's Lauren Wick used an effort of 20:00.6 to claim the individual victory for the women.
Penn State Harrisburg returns to action next weekend when both teams take part in the Gettysburg Invitational on Saturday morning, Oct. 13.
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