Rising up: highlights of 2012 for Penn cross country

3) Deja vu as women grab second place again at Iona Meet of Champions

In the first scored team meet of the season, the women of Penn cross-country found themselves in familiar territory. For the second year in a row, the Quakers finished as runner-ups at the Iona Meet of Champions, held in New York City.

Senior Leslie Kovach was the top finisher for the Red and Blue, coming in fourth overall. Junior Kersie Jhabvala followed her with a top 10 finish, placing seventh at the meet.

2) “Freshman 15” leads men to victory at the Paul Short Invitational

Freshmen Brendan Smith, Brandon Clark and Thomas Awad all finished in the top seven overall to give Penn the clear victory in the Brown Race at the Paul Short Invitational. The rookie trio combined for 15 points, as Penn won the invitational with a 120-point cushion over second-place Canisius.

The Red and Blue will be counting on that core nucleus of young talent even more in 2013 as they enter their sophomore seasons.

1) Quakers dominate Leopard Invitational as women claim first, men finish second

All five top runners for the Penn women placed in the top 10 at this 13-team meet hosted by Lafayette College. Kovach recorded her first collegiate victory as she crossed the finish line with a time of 21:03.48.

“I just thought it was a really fun team day for us to actually win an invitational and have that team success,” Director of cross country Steve Dolan said. “It was the kind of race where our athletes were towards the front and able to feed off of each other.”

On the men’s side, Smith and Clark placed in the top 10 overall to help the Quakers grab the second place spot in a field of 13 teams.

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