State College, Pa. -- Youngstown State junior Samantha Hamilton finished 19th out of 268 runners to help lead the women's cross country team place 12th out of 29 schools at the Penn State Nationals on Friday.
In the team race, the Penguins placed in front of defending Patriot League Champion Colgate, Akron, Cleveland State, Florida International, Temple and Buffalo among others. YSU totaled 384 points while West Virginia placed first with 45. Connecticut was second, Penn State third and Duke was fourth.
Hamilton finished with a time of 22 minutes, three seconds in the 6K event. West Virginia's Kate Harrison placed first clocking a time of 20:50.
Coach Brian Gorby was excited about Hamilton's performance.
"Samantha led the women to the best National finish in YSU's 22-Year history," Gorby said. "The women beat championship programs to take an amazing 12 out of the East Coast's Top 29 teams at the National Invite."
Other finishers for the women included, Anna Pompeo who was 71st with a time of 23:16, Nelly Yegon who finished 87th with 23:40, Christina Oles who was 89th with a 23:42, Brittany Stockmaster who placed 118th with a 24:11, Katey Heney who was 158th with a 25:13 and Jillian Smith was 192nd with a 27:18.
"That is pretty big for our program to beat two defending 2010 Conference Champions the past four weeks," Gorby said. "It shows the improvement and is a result of the hard work the squad is putting in daily."
On the men's side, the Penguins placed 18th out of 21 teams with Penn State earning the team title ahead of Division II Grand Valley State.
Leading the way was Eric Rupe who finished 60th in the 5.2-mile race with a time of 27:55. Other finishers for the Penguins included Nick Gilha who was 72nd with a time of 28:19, Brandon Pasvanis was 123rd with a 30:35, Aron Korir was 124th with a 30:35, Austin McLean was 126th with a time of 30:44 and Eddie Adu-Poka was 134th at 32:01.
The Guins are off for two weeks before heading to Cleveland for the Horizon League Championships.
Women's Individual Results (6k)
(Place/Runner/Time)
19 Samantha Hamilton 22:03
71 Anna Pompeo 23:16
87 Nelly Yegon 23:40
89 Christina Oles 23:42
118 Brittany Stockmaster 24:11
158 Katey Heney 25:13
192 Jillian Smith 27:18
Men's Individual Results (5.2 miles)
(Place/Runner/Time)
60 Eric Rupe 27:55
72 Nick Gliha 28:19
123 Brandon Pasvanis 30:35
124 Aron Korir 30:35
126 Austin McLean 30:44
134 Eddie Adu-Poka 32:01
