Oct. 15, 2005

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The 20th-ranked Providence College women's cross country team finished second and the men's squad placed fifth at the Penn State University Invitational on Saturday, October 15 at University Park, Pa.

On the women's side, Providence (103 points), which had won three consecutive Penn State titles, finished behind top-ranked Duke (22 points). PC senior All-American Fiona Crombie (Christchurch, New Zealand) led the Friars with a fourth overall place finish in a time of 20:49. Graduate Aine Hoban (Wakefield, England) was PC's second highest finisher as she recorded a 13th-place finish (21:14), while junior Meghan Owen (Danielson, Conn.) placed 18th in a time of 21:30. Freshman Katie DiCamillo of Garden City, N.Y. (27th - 21:50) and graduate Katie Twarog of Albany, N.Y. (41st - 22:10) also scored for the Friars.

The men's squad, which was competing in its first Penn State Invitational, recorded 201 points to place fifth. Eastern Michigan (100 points) captured the meet, while American (130 points), Guelph (146 points) and Duquesne (193 points) finished second, third and fourth, respectively.

Providence was led by senior Martin Fagan (Mullingar, Ireland) who captured the individual title in a time of 24:56. For Fagan, it marked his second individual title this season. Fagan's impressive time was 25 seconds ahead of second place finisher, PC sophomore Ahmed Haji (West Hartford, Conn.), who ran a time of 25:21. Classmate Max Smith (Dunedin, New Zealand), who was competing in his first meet of the season, placed 13th in a time of 25:42. Also scoring for the Friars were junior Nick Weidman of Sudbury, Mass. (50th - 24:56) and senior Liam Reale (Hospital, Ireland).

The Providence College men's and women's cross country teams are back in action on Friday, October 28 at the BIG EAST Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y.

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