If preseason success is any indication of a team's chances in weeks to come, then both the Penn men and women's cross country teams are heading toward very productive seasons.
The men's team earned a first-place finish at Saturday's Lock Haven Invitational. Five Quakers finished among the top 10 in the 10,000-meter race.
"We're finding great success because the guys did great work over the summer," men's coach Charlie Powell said.
In its shorter 6,000 meter run, the women's team also had continued success by following up last weekend's first place by finishing third out of 11 teams. Twins Claire and Stacey Kim finished in fourth and 10th, respectively.
The top finishes, however, are not the main focus for the team at this time of the season. Both coaches stressed the need to form cohesion among the runners, a very important aspect in a sport in which athletes need to rely on their teammates and form packs during the long runs.
"We have a race plan where we try to keep our pack and try to work together," women's coach Gwen Harris said. "When the pack separates, we want the girls to stick together and have one very fast pack. . I thought we did a real good job trying to stay together."
The men were also able to execute their race plan as they dominated a field that was less competitive than the schools the Quakers will face during the season.
"Everybody let us do what we wanted to do," Powell said. "We dictated the race from 100 meters on."
Penn junior Brian Goldberg led the pack that earned the Red and Blue every place from second to sixth, excluding fifth. Goldberg's time of 32:04.07 was about six seconds slower than the winning effort by Penn State's Dan Mazzocco.
Penn senior Michael LaQuaglia came in 10th and topped off a Quakers performance that took half of the top 10, the only places that earn team points.
Powell was satisfied with the success, but he does not want his team to become complacent.
"It was a good, solid team effort," he said. "But the whole view is to peak later on in the season."
The women share a similar philosophy, in which continued improvement is the key.
"I think that if you work on your goals and do the things that you need to do, then you'll improve," Harris said. "And that's what we did today."
