The University of Pennsylvania men’s and women’s cross country teams are set to compete in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships on Friday, November 14, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The event is hosted by Lehigh University. The women’s 6k race will begin at noon, followed by the men’s 10k at 1:00 p.m.
During the regular season, Lara Cota achieved a second-place finish at the Jersey Jam on September 5 with a personal-best time of 14:07.4 for 4.1 kilometers. She also ran a 6k in 20:51.7 at the Paul Short Run, with Gabby Jones close behind at 20:51.9. Jones later recorded her own best of 20:50.3 in the Princeton Fall Classic.
The Penn women’s team won their season opener at Princeton with a score of 32 points, led by Cota’s second place and supported by strong finishes from Gabby Jones (fourth), Izzy Rodriguez (fifth), L’Mio Edwards (ninth), and Kyra Compton (12th).
On the men’s side, Penn claimed victory at the Main Line Invitational in Haverford with Sahil Dodda finishing first in a personal-best four-mile time of 19:19.6. Kofi Fordjour placed third (19:37.6), Shane Murphy fourth (19:38.7), Esfan Daya seventh, and Vinay Raman ninth.
At the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, Penn’s women finished fourth overall with 105 points while the men placed seventh with a total of 167 points.
Anna Werich led the Quakers’ women by placing ninth in the 6k race with a time of 21:33.0 and earning All-Ivy Second Team honors; Gabrielle Jones was close behind in thirteenth place at 21:47.3 and also received Second Team recognition.
Sarah Fischer was third across for Penn’s women (21st place; 21:55.9). Courtney Kaiser took twenty-ninth (22:07.5) and freshman Izzy Rodriguez rounded out scoring for Penn in thirty-third position (22:16.3).
For Penn’s men, Kofi Fordjour led with an eighteenth-place finish in the men’s 8k (25:14.9). Nick Carpenter followed in thirtieth place (25:43.6) and Sahil Dodda finished thirty-sixth (25:50.5). George Keen and Liam Going completed scoring for Penn by placing fortieth and forty-third respectively.
The Quakers’ lineup for Friday includes Nick Carpenter, Esfan Daya, Sahil Dodda, Kofi Fordjour, George Keen, Shamus Larnard, Shane Murphy, and Joey Ruiz competing in the men’s race; Kyra Compton, Lara Cota, Sarah Fischer, Gabby Jones, Courtney Kaiser, Izzy Rodriguez, and Anna Weirich will run for the women’s team.
Following this regional meet is another key event on November 22—the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
