M. X-C feels right at home at `Philly Classic'

The home field advantage paid off on Saturday, as the Penn men's cross country team raced to a second-place finish at the La Salle Invitational "Philly Classic," held at Belmont Plateau.

The Quakers had five finishers in the top 20 for the grueling 8,000-meter race, led by senior Matt Gioffre -- who placed fifth with a time of 25:25.

Of the five top 20 finishers, four were from the unusually large contingent of freshmen on this year's team.

Penn's newcomers seem to have adjusted very well to the collegiate level of intensity.

"It's a hard transition from high school 5K [races] to college 8K," said freshman Dusty Lieb, who finished second for Penn and sixth overall. "It's a very long distance. I was just trying to hold on to our leader, Matt Gioffre, to keep him in sight and catch up whenever I could."

"I surprised myself," said Dan Treglia, another of Penn's rookies, who placed 13th. "I expected to be 30 seconds slower. I was a little nervous... I had never experienced a real five-mile race before."

The freshmen on the team feel fortunate to have so many others who are having the same new experiences. The team's relative youth is an asset for future years as well, since they will be able to train together for a longer time than usual.

"We are all going through it together," said freshman Nolan Tully, who placed 10th in last Saturday's race. "I'm looking forward to seeing what we will do this year, and in years to come."

"We have a lot of promise," Treglia added. "It seemed that everyone was happy with the race."

First place in the Philly Classic went to fellow home team La Salle with 33 points, just 16 less than the Quakers (the low total wins in cross country, as the top five places from each team are added together to compile the team's score).

Penn's top five runners finished well within one minute of the top time, which is a very important strategy for winning this kind of competition. Villanova took the top two times, but placed third in the overall competition with 77 points.

The out-of-town visitors, Duquesne and Monmouth, placed fourth and fifth overall, as the unpredictable and hilly course took its toll on those less familiar with it.

As the cross country runners climbed the final torturous hill to the finish line, the non-distance members of the Penn track team -- teammates of the cross-country guys in the winter and spring -- turned out in force to encourage their fellow Quakers.

"The Penn track team is definitely like home to me now," Treglia said. "The best moment [of the race] was having the track guys waiting at the top of the hill."

The Quakers' season will continue this Saturday with the Paul Short Memorial in Bethlehem, Pa., and culminates at the Heptagonal Championships in New York at the end of this month.

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