Abel And Mooney Secure Runner Of The Week Awards

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine sophomore Catharine Mooney (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) received women's cross country runner of the week honors from the Penn State University Athletic Conference, while classmate Brian Abel (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) was selected as the runner of the week by both the PSUAC and the United States Collegiate Athletic Association on Tuesday.

Mooney was the first runner to cross the finish line at the Lions' home invitational on Saturday, becoming the first Brandywine woman to claim medalist honors in the team's history. She ran the 6K race in a time of 27:45, placing her 25 seconds ahead of the runner-up in the 45-woman field.

Earlier this fall, Mooney set a new Brandywine 5K record (21:38) at Lebanon Valley's Dutchmen Invitational. She owns three of the five fastest 5K times in school history and will look to qualify for the USCAA National Championship for the second consecutive year later in October during the conference championship race.

Abel was the runner-up at the 96-man Brandywine Invitational (29:12), helping the Lions finish second in the team standings. He has now posted three top-five finishes in four races this fall, including medalist honors at the season-opening DelVal Invitational.

Also a national qualifier as a freshman, Abel owns the top five and six of the top 10 8K times in program history.

Brandywine competes for the final time during the regular season on Saturday at the Salisbury Invitational beginning at 9:45 AM.