M.X-Country takes 2nd

Behind co-captain Terry McLean, the men's cross country team took second place at the Paul Short Invitational Saturday at Lehigh. The Quakers finished behind No. 5 Penn State. McLean finished sixth overall in the race. The Quakers finished with 128 points, while Penn State had only 31. Penn was sluggish and "didn't look race sharp yet," according to coach Charlie Powell. James Madison came in third behind Penn with 147 points and No. 1 Georgetown finished fifth. More than 155 runners representing 23 teams competed in the 10,000- meter course. Although the Quakers ran a solid race, they need to be more aggressive early in the race, Powell said. "They backed down from the game plan which was to mix it up with the guys from Penn State," Powell said. Penn had expectations to be a lot closer to Penn State, but the team is lacking depth. The Quakers had not raced for two weeks which is one reason why they were "uptight and hesitant," according to Powell. However, this was a good take-off point -- it is the end of the season which is really important. "From the second mile on it was obvious Penn State would win and U. Penn would be second," Powell said. At one point, it looked like McLean would win the whole race. He was in key position to take the lead through four miles of the course. McLean ran neck and neck with two Penn State all-Americans, Bobby Hamer and Jake Bartholomy, who finished first and third, respectively. McLean finished in 31 minutes, 42 seconds while Hamer finished in 30:54. Bartholomy had a time of 31:07. Co-captain Joe Hall finished 14th overall. "He was not 100 percent," Powell said. Matt Wilkinson finished 24th overall for Penn. Coming in 37th was Al Symonette, followed by Brett Albert finishing 47th. Georgetown didn't run its top five runners because it was "saving people's legs," according to Powell. The Penn State National Invitational is a major event this weekend where at least six nationally ranked teams will compete. It is at this meet where rankings may take a major change. Six or seven nationally ranked teams will compete, including Georgetown, Penn State and No. 10 Kansas. "Placing well in this meet could determine if you really are a nationally ranked team," Powell said. Last year Penn did not compete in the Penn State Invitational. Powell is confident the team will run hard and solid this weekend.