Brandywine Claims Men’s And Women’s Titles At Wilkes Barre Invitational

MEDIA, Pennsylvania -- The Penn State Brandywine cross country teams were both victorious at the Penn State Wilkes Barre Invitational as the Lion men topped the six-team field and the Lion women bested the three-team field on Saturday afternoon.

The Brandywine men, who took first at a meet for the first time in program history, placed all five of its runners in the top 17 of the 39-man field.

John Li (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby), the reigning PSUAC Runner of the Week, placed second overall, finishing the race in a time of 28:23.

Sam Houlette (Chester Springs, Pa./Salesianum) was fifth, crossing the line in 30:41, while Kason Laventure (Lansdowne, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) and Alex Rivera-Santiago (New Castle, Del./Delcastle) placed seventh and eighth respectively. Mario Miceli (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville) turned in a time of 32:53, finishing 17th.

Brandywine totaled 30 team points, finishing 32 points ahead of second-place Penn State Scranton. The Lion women tallied 19 points which were 27 better than Penn State Scranton, the runner-up, as all five runners finished in the top 15.

Annie Mueller (Lincoln University, Pa./Homeschooled), who was named as the female PSUAC Runner of the Week this week, turned in a time of 17:50 to place third among 29 competitors.

Robyn Gannon (Lansdowne, Pa./Archbishop Prendergast) crossed the finish line 23 seconds after Mueller in sixth place.

Jessica Powers (Morton, Pa./Ridley) was 10th (19:11), while Amanda Isenberger placed 11th (19:19) and Kristen Hall (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) turned in a time of 20:21 to place 14th.

Brandywine will race at the Paul Short Invitational, one of the top annual events in the area, on the campus of Lehigh University on Friday.