With one strong race at Penn State already under its belt – the Syracuse men and women’s cross country teams won the Spiked Shoe Invitational on Sept. 23 – the team returned confident in a rematch in the National Open on Saturday.

SU seemed primed for its second straight successful meet with two whole weeks of rest, the same competition and a familiar course.

The team delivered, keeping the men undefeated and giving the women their second straight win. Having run at Penn State just two weeks before was a major help for the Orange, which now looks ahead to the Big East Championship on Oct. 27.

‘It was definitely a benefit to have run there early in the year, especially for the new people who had never fun there before,’ said senior Dave Wishart, who finished fifth for SU. ‘Like any sport, being familiar with your surrounding and some your opponents really helps.’

But unlike most other sports, the course changes every meet in cross country. Football players know the field will be 100 yards with two end zones and uprights every week. Cross country runners never quite know what a course is going to be like until they arrive. Being familiar with the course is even more important than in many other sports. The Penn State course is longer than most, including the one at Franklin Park in Boston – the site of the Big East Championship.

Saturday was the third time sophomore Nana Sang-Bender ran at Penn State. She topped all SU women, finishing second overall at 21:22 and beating her previous Penn State time by over three seconds.

‘I was very happy with my time this week because I was more mentally and physically prepared to run the course,’ Sang-Bender said. ‘I think everyone ran better than the last time we were there.’

Junior Liz Cufari finished seventh overall at 21:46, beating her first time by more than 33 seconds. Freshman Maegan Krifchin rounded out SU’s top 10 finishers. She placed 10th at 22:04.

On the men’s side, sophomore Jeff Scull came in third overall at 25:43 – 14 seconds better than at Spiked Shoe. The transfer student from Colorado State has been the top runner for the Orange in all three meets in which he has competed.

Junior Kyle Heath was 23 seconds faster than two weeks earlier. He came in ninth at 26:04, marking his third-straight top-10 finish.

‘Running there before this season was a nice help, but remember Penn State trains there every day,’ head coach Chris Fox said. ‘The most important thing was we wanted to get back there and run better the second time.’

While seven of the same schools, including SU, competed in both the Spiked Shoe and National Open, two new strong teams joined the field this week: Oklahoma and regional rival Cornell.

Cornell’s men were ranked sixth in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association northeast regional poll conducted on Oct. 2 – before the seventh-ranked Orange beat the Big Red this week at the National Open. SU’s women were ranked ninth. The next poll will be released later today.

‘You can check the archives,’ Fox said. ‘I don’t think Syracuse has beaten Cornell in forever.’

SU is in the middle of its most successful seasons in years, but the most important meets are still to come. Penn State and Cornell are worthy opponents, but the Orange will not know how good it is until the Big East Championship and NCAA regional. Both meets decide if SU will qualify for the NCAA Championships on Nov 20.

But despite its early success, the program is still in a rebuilding mode. Nevertheless, everyone is impressed with the team’s progress and fast results.

‘We are a year ahead of schedule from where we thought we’d be,’ Wishart said. ‘Some of that has to do with the younger guys stepping up and some of it has to do with the older guys developing under the new coaching staff.’

Published on October 8, 2006 at 12:00 pm