W. X-C fights through rain, extra kilometer

The scene at Saturday's Paul Short Invitational was one of soaked mayhem.

With the rain falling hard and 39 teams in attendance, the Penn women's cross country team could have been lost in the chaos. But the Quakers maintained their focus and ended up with an impressive eighth-place finish.

Held at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., the invite played host to some of the top teams on the East Coast, including Bucknell, Georgetown and top-finisher Penn State.

In addition to the steep competition, the Red and Blue faced another obstacle, an extra kilometer.

The race was six kilometers in length, as opposed to the 5k format the Ivy League follows. Thus, the Penn women were faced with a problem that many other teams don't have to worry about.

But according to team standout Abbi Gleeson, the Quakers hope to use this meet to gain experience for the District 2 Championships, which will be held at the same course on Nov. 10.

"This race was good practice for District 2s," she said. "It was a good way to get a feel for the course."

Another obstacle faced by all those who ran on Saturday was the weather. With a steady downpour before the race, the runners found it difficult to warm-up sufficiently and "to get pumped up for the race," according to Gleeson.

But Penn coach Cricket Batz-Shaklee had a different perspective. Gleeson said that the coach, trying to inspire her runners, described the conditions as "perfect cross country weather."

And her message got through. Gleeson, who had hoped to finish in the top 10, did so, placing 10th in 21:37.

Penn captain Sam Desposito also ran well, crossing the finish line in 22:10 for a 28th-place finish in the field of 269.

Penn runners Claire Duncan and Kristen Koch ran together the whole way, verbally encouraging each other continuously, in accordance with the pack-mentality strategy adopted by the Quakers this season.

Duncan finished in 22:41.86 for a 67th-place finish, while Koch placed 69th with her time of 22:42.42.

Elaina Lord, Emily Turner and Kim Milans, who finished 79th, 177th and 201nd, respectively, rounded out the field for the Quakers.

In a race full of foreseen and unforeseen obstacles, the Penn women performed well and gained valuable experience.

With only one meet remaining before Heps on Oct. 26, the Red and Blue will look to put this experience into practice.

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