This past weekend, the Penn State Behrend Lions hosted the annual Behrend Invitational cross country meet. Athletes from 11 teams from all over the region gathered to compete in the invitational. Both the men and women raced through the Behrend Fields, around the Behrend track and alongside the Bayfront Connector on a hot day for the town of Erie.

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The women started the day with their 5K race. The Behrend team was able to take second overall, led by several determined individual performances. Despite Hilary Reigle and Katie Durisin, of Mount Union, taking the top two spots in the race, Behrend junior Riley Crissman placed third with a time just over the 20-minute mark. Behrend junior Jenna Shelton clocked in at just over 21 minutes to take seventh overall in the race. Three more Mount Union run

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ners placed in the top ten, denying the Lions first place by a healthy margin. Only Mount Union and Penn State Behrend had multiple runners place in the top ten. Hanna Drozynski and Kelley Giles additionally ran honorable races, placing 19th and 22th, respectively for Behrend. Courtney Sargent, Suraihyah Sule, Caitlin Plazony and Jessie Johnson managed to be in the top 50 as well.

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The men did not fare as well in their 8K race, but still mustered a reputable showing. Out of the 11 teams participating, the Lions took fourth, led by junior Christopher Drozynski. Drozynski took seventh place and clocked in at a time just over 28 minutes. Mark Bierly and Timothy Wheeler were not far behind, running at clips of 28:17.6 and 28:42.0, respectively, and placing in the top 20. Mount Union was propelled to victory once again by four top ten runners, while Truett-McConnell and Houghton each had two runners in the top ten. Colton Barger set a personal best of 29:38.5 to take 26th, and Jake Lehotsky, Michael Cross and Nick Post ran among the top 40 runners.

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The cross country teams will travel to Steubenville, Ohio to participate in the Franciscan Invitational this Saturday. The first race begins at 11 a.m. The Lions will close out the month of September with the Geneseo Invitational in New York on the 29th.