It was pure domination for Penn men’s cross country in their season opener.
The Quakers outperformed their competitors, scoring 27 points as a team, nearly half of the second-place squad’s total. In a meet featuring five other Ivy League squads, including defending Ivy League champion Princeton, the Quakers had five runners finish in the top 10.
Freshman Nicholas Mazzeo won the meet in his collegiate debut with a blazing 18:01.2 over six kilometers, becoming the only freshman to finish in the top 15. He finished four seconds and a few strides ahead of Princeton runner Hayden Boaz, who claimed the silver in 18:05.1.
Junior Chris Larnard wasn’t far behind, claiming fourth place and the second scoring position in an impressive 18:15.0. Before this race, Larnard had only competed in two cross country meets at the collegiate level.
Senior Kofi Fordjour — the Quakers’ top scorer at last season’s Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals — crossed the line less than two seconds behind Larnard, claiming sixth place in 18:16.7.
Rounding out the top five were junior Shane Murphy and sophomore Vinay Raman, who finished seventh and ninth, respectively.
A Penn team that finished seventh in the conference in 2025 made a statement to their conference rivals as they finished 94 points better than the next-best Ivy squad.
“To have five guys finish in the top nine and within 25 seconds of each other was really exciting for us, especially because they ran together for the majority of the race,” men’s head cross country coach Steve Dolan told Penn Athletics. “And then to have [Mazzeo] win his first collegiate race in his debut was very impressive. It was a great start for him and a great day for the team.”
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On the women’s side, the Quakers claimed a bronze medal, scoring 80 points as a team in a field featuring five conference rivals.
The Quakers stared down tough competition in defending Ivy League champion Princeton, Ivy runner-up Harvard, and national powerhouse Providence, but they managed to hold their own, putting three runners in the top 15 finishers.
Freshman Allison Lee led the Quakers in her collegiate debut, finishing fifth overall in 14:21.6. The Princeton, N.J., native was the first freshman to cross the line and the only freshman in the top 10 finishers. Lee is expected to be a standout for the Quakers at the Heps after notching the U.S. No. 4 all-time mark in the 3200-meter run in April.
Sophomore Izzy Rodriguez built on a strong freshman season on the grass with a 10th place finish, crossing the line in 14:37.3. Junior Quin Stovall followed close behind, claiming 14th overall in 14:43.6.
The meet also featured the impressive returns from seniors Camille Jordan and Kelly Murray, who have not competed in a single cross country meet in either of the last two seasons. At the Friar Invitational, they were back like they never left, finishing back-to-back with 25th and 26th place to round out the Quakers’ scorers. Murray and Jordan stopped the clock at 14:56.7 and 14:58.4, respectively.
The Providence Friars won the meet on their home turf with 22 points, while the Tigers finished second. Although the Quakers ultimately claimed the bronze, they scored 31 points better than the fourth-place squad and beat four of their five conference rivals at the meet.
“We really wanted to focus on ourselves and execute the kind of races that we felt good about as individuals and as a team,” women’s head cross country coach Matt Gosselin said to Penn Athletics. “You never quite know what you’re going to get from other teams this early in the season, so our goal was to race our style and focus on the things that we can control.”
“It was also really valuable to preview the course, see how the hills, footing and different sections of the course play out, and get a better idea of how we want to approach it when we come back for the Ivy League Championships,” Gosselin added.
The Quakers will take a quick trip to Haverford, Pa. on Sept. 18 to compete in the Mainline Invitational hosted by Haverford College.
