Franek leads PSU women to first conference crown

From CDT staff reports

STATE COLLEGE — Bridget Franek captured the individual title to lead the Penn State women's cross country team its first-ever conference title at the Big Ten Cross Country Championships on Sunday at the Penn State Golf Courses.

CDT/Christopher Weddle

Penn State's Bridget Franek wins the Big Ten conference cross country championship at the Penn State golf courses on Sunday, November 1, 2009. CDT/Christopher Weddle

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“Today was amazing,” said coach Beth Alford-Sullivan, whose team totaled 71 points to edge Illinois by six in the event. “You couldn’t have scripted it any better. We came into this thinking that we had a shot at a championship but so did Minnesota and so did Illinois. We just knew that we had to execute at 100 percent.”

In a battle with NCAA 5,000-meter champion Angela Bizzari of Illinois for much of the race, Franek took advantage of the challenging hills on the latter half of her home course in the 6-kilometer event.

Her time of 20 minutes, 3 seconds was seven seconds better than Bizzari and was the second-fastest women’s time ever run at the course.

“It was awesome,” said Franek. “It’s truly amazing to be on the team that won, and win the individual race. I think it’s a testament to being on our home course and knowing it really well, and feeling comfortable at home. I think that helped a lot.”

Franek, a senior, joined Kim McGreevy, the current assistant cross country coach at Michigan State, as the only Nittany Lions to win a conference title. McGreevy won in 1996.

“Going into the race, I really tried to not focus so much on results but on just taking advantage of the competition and seeing what I could do against it,” said Franek of her race plan. “I just tried to prepare myself for the race to the best of my ability, and hoped that that was enough to pull off the win.”

Freshman Nicole Lord finished ninth overall in 20:52 and earned second team All-Big Ten accolades. Classmate Brooklyne Ridder (21:16) was 16th.

“This group of freshmen and sophomores have been the spark that its taken for this team to really unite,” said Sullivan of her contingent of underclassmen. “They really have a selfless confidence, and they’re just a group of kids that love what they’re doing, and they’re committed to what they’re doing.”

Sophomores Caitlin Lane (21:24) and Kara Millhouse (21:27) placed 22nd and 23rd, respectively.

Next up for the Nittany Lions is the NCAA Mid- Atlantic Regional Championships on Nov. 14, at the University of Maryland- Eastern Shore, in Princess Anne, Md. The top two teams at the race will automatically advance to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 23, along with the top four individuals.

In the men’s event, Penn State placed a distant ninth among the 10 teams entered.

Sophomore Vince McNally earned second-team All- Big Ten honors by finishing 11th on the 5.2-mile course in 25:37. Sophomore Kyle Dawson (26:43) was 45th, the only other Nittany Lion in the top 50.

Wisconsin, with five runners in the top eight, won the team title for the 11th consecutive year, running away from the field with 26 points. Ohio State was second with 97. Penn State had 232.

Minnesota’s Hassan Mead won with a time of 25:00.2.