Despite the freezing temperatures and the sloppy snow-laden course, the men’s and women’s cross-country teams still managed to impress at the Penn State National Invitational on Friday. The men’s team took first out of a field of 11 teams, and the women placed fourth out of 18 teams.

In the men’s race, a low tally of 48 points allowed the Red to surpass several powerhouse teams, including Cortland and Ivy League rival Yale. Junior Nate Edelman led the charge for Cornell, emerging as the top collegiate finisher with an impressive 8K time of 25:06. Edelman, however, attributed the day’s success to the stellar performances put on by his teammates.

“A lot of our guys really stepped up during the race,” he said. “Especially our [top five] guys, they ran really well.”

Indeed, Edelman was closely followed by senior Joel Frost-Tift and junior Max Kasak, who both posted times of 25:30 and finished in ninth and 10th place, respectively. Freshman Brett Kelley placed 15th in 25:47, and senior co-captain Dale Taylor capped off the Red’s top five with a 21st-place finish and a time of 25:50. The mere 44-second spread between the first and fifth runners was a great improvement from the 68-second spread at the Paul Short Invitational.

This improvement was perhaps due to a recent change in the Red’s racing strategy. Taking it all in stride: Senior Joel Frost-Tift finished with a time of 25:30 — good for ninth place. The meet was relocated due to snow in Happy Valley.

“In the past, we’ve been pretty conservative going out,” Edelman said. “But this time, we tried to get ourselves in good position early. We had to be confident, really race people and go after it.”

As for the women’s race, a field of more than 200 talented runners provided plenty of challenges for the Red. However, the Cornell women were not to be fazed.

“It was good to race against some different teams that we haven’t seen,” said senior captain Stephanie Pancoast. “It gives us more experience … and shows us that we are a good team and we belong out there racing.”

Individually, Pancoast demonstrated her discipline on the 6K course, going out in 20th place at the mile and steadily moving up to finish 13th with a time of 21:05.

Overall, a faster second half seemed to be the theme for the Red, as freshman Genna Hartung systematically moved up after the first mile to finish 20th in 21:23. Freshman Katie Kellner also competed well, placing 31st with a time of 21:52, and junior Maura Carroll was close behind, finishing 38th in 21:58. Sophomore Emma Clarke rounded out the top five in 42nd place with a final time of 22:01.

The day’s performance will certainly give the Red a good deal of confidence going into the all-important Ivy League Heptagonals on October 30th.

 “We’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Pancoast said. “Heps is important, and it’s a fun meet … so we have to keep having fun and working hard.”

Edelman also expressed similar sentiments regarding the men’s performance.

“With how we did [on Friday] we can tell that we really match up well to the other teams,” he said. “We’re pretty confident … we ran in a style that is similar to how we want to run at Heps.”

So, with the end of the season drawing ever nearer, both the men’s and the women’s cross country teams are gearing up for the Heptagonals, and in the meantime, they continue to deliver outstanding performances in every race.