Cross Country Runs For PSUAC Championships Saturday At Mont Alto

MEDIA, Pa. -- The Penn State Brandywine men's and women's cross country teams travel to Norlo Park in central Pennsylvania Saturday afternoon for the Penn State University Athletic Conference Championships.

Annually hosted by Penn State Mont Alto, the Lions will be in Fayetteville, Pa., for the 6K women's championship, slated to start at 1:00 PM, and the 8K men's championship, which begins following the conclusion of the women's race.

Both teams have been idle from collegiate competition since Sept. 29 when the teams ran in Salisbury, Md. On Oct. 14, the squads competed at the Run 291 Challenge in Chester with numerous runners posting personal-best 5K times. Catharine Mooney (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) won the women's race, while Brian Abel (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) claimed first in the men's race.

Abel has had a record-setting freshman season, running to the program's 8K record at Salisbury, besting his previous top time by 28 seconds. When Brandywine ran at Mont Alto earlier this fall, Abel finished in second place overall, while posting the top time by a PSUAC runner.

Brandywine's men will be looking to win their first-ever conference championship. The Lions finished as the runner-up three consecutive years from 2014-16.

Aiding Brandywine's efforts for a first conference crown will be a pair of 2017 USCAA national qualifiers in John Li (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby) and Brendan Cleary (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley). A senior, Li will look to qualify for the national championship race for the fourth-straight year, while Cleary earned a spot in 2017 as a freshman.

For the women, Mooney has paced the team during her freshman season. She posted times at both 5K and 6K distances that rank in the top five all-time at Brandywine and ran to a second-place finish in her college debut in September.

Rachel McIntire (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) and Aileen Flaherty (Ridley, Pa./Ridley) have also had strong first seasons at Brandywine and will look to qualify for nationals.

Mooney and McIntire both finished in the top five when the Lions competed at Mont Alto's championship preview meet earlier this fall.