Syracuse men take top spot at Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational, women finish 2nd

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Syracuse men’s and women’s cross country continued their season at Penn State’s Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational on Friday, Sept. 8th. The men finished first, while the women finished second in their respective race.

In the men’s 5.2 mile, the Orange dominated, placing in each of the top four spots and claiming seven of the top nine finishes overall. SU racked up 16 points, finishing ahead of second place Pittsburgh with 59 points. Penn State came in third in the race with Temple and Buffalo closing out the top five. Syracuse recorded a team time of 2:07:57.8, good for an average of 25:35.6.

Senior Perry Mackinnon was first to cross the finish line with a time of 25:31.1. Sophomore Sam Lawler (25:31.9) was right behind Mackinnon, finishing in second place. Senior Paul O’Donnell (25:36.8), sophomore Assaf Harari (25:37) and junior Alex Comerford (25:41) finished in third, fourth and sixth place respectively. A week after taking the top spot at the Harry Lang Invitational, senior Matthew Scrape (25:44.7) came in eighth place with Ethan Wechsler (25:44.8) right behind him in ninth.

In the women’s 6000m, SU placed second out of seven schools with 40 points, 16 points behind Penn State with 24. Pittsburgh came in third with 79 points while Buffalo and Temple finished in fourth and fifth place respectively. The Orange recorded a team time of 1:46:59.2 with an average of 21:23.8.

Syracuse placed four runners in the top 10 with senior Sophia Jacobs-Townsley leading the way with a second place finish, recording a time of 20:59. Junior Rylie Lusk (21:17.1) placed second for SU and sixth overall. Sophomore Emma Eastman (21:18.5) and junior Olivia Joly (21:25) finished eighth and ninth respectively. Penn State junior Faith DeMars was the first to finish with a time of 20:50.3. Penn State placed four of the top five finishers en route to its victory.

Syracuse will turn their attention to it’s next race when the team competes in the Virginia Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 23rd.