Another Great Race in the Books for GA Cross Country

McKeesport, Pa. - The Penn State Greater Allegheny women and men's cross country teams competed in an invitational at Penn State Fayette this past Saturday.

Freshman Rachel Ramsey (North Versailles, Pa./ East Allegheny) placed first overall for the women's 5k. She went on to finish in a time of 21:12. Ramsey completed the race 29 seconds ahead of the 2nd place finisher, Haylee Burnhauser of Penn State Schuylkill, who finished ninth at USCAA Nationals last year in Lake Placid. This is her third consecutive first place finish.

GA ushered in finishers freshman Kasey Dansak (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport Area) and sophomore Shelby Bendick (White Oak, Pa./McKeessport Area) raced to the finish line to place 9th and 10th place, respectively, with times of 25:55 and 26:32. Freshman Tammy Bevilacqua (Jeannette, Pa./Jeannette) crossed te finish line in 19th place with a time of 31:10. The women's race consisted of 26 runners, excluding freshman Melissa Loftus (Oxford, Pa./Oxford Area), who could not compete due to concussion.

Sophomore Rob Meier (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford) was the first finisher for GA, who completed the 8k race in 32:32, achieving 7th place. Freshman Jesse Cheek (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) competed in the best race time of his short career at GA; he finished in 17th place with a time of 35:54. Freshman David Markotan (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) finsished just after Cheek in 19th place, with a time of 37:10. Freshman Marcus Slivinski (Plainville, Ct./Plainville) raced into 26th place with a time of 41:58. Sophomore Keith Smith (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport Area) also completed his season's best race with a time of 53:28, 35th place. Junior David Buckholtz (Philadelphia, Pa./Science Leadership) wrapped up the race in 36th place, as he completed in a time of 55:06. With a total of 36 runners in the competition, GA men finished in 4th place.

Greater Allegheny Cross Country is back in action this Saturday, as they travel to Penn State Wilkes-Barre. The race is set to begin at 1 p.m.