October 26th, 2009

Penn State Harrisburg Cross Country Prepares for Championship

MIDDLETOWN, PA - The Penn State Harrisburg cross country team looks forward to this Saturday October 31st for the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championship held at SUNY Institute of Technology.

Team captains, Michael Binz (West Deptford, NJ/Glouchester Catholic) and Jocquise Wolfe (Harrisburg, PA/Harrisburg), look to lead their respective teams to Penn State Harrisburg´s first NEAC championship in cross country since entering division III play.

In previous years the blue and white have seen their fair share of challenges. This year tells a different story; Coach Norman Magaro has a solid group of runners that look to set the bar high for future Penn State Harrisburg cross country runners for years to come.

Running this Saturday for the women will be freshman Michelle Cease (Danville, PA/Sunbury Christian Academy), freshman Bekah Nieliwocki (Lemoyne, PA/Cedar Cliff), freshman Jennifer Lauzus (Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham), sophomore Kaitlyn Chajkowski (Camp Hill, PA/Trinity) and senior Jocquise Wolfe. As freshman, Cease and Nieliwocki have been the steady leaders of the group with their best finishes coming in the Albright Invitational were they finished 17th and 18th respectively.

Running for the men will be sophomore Anthony Grab (Harrisburg, PA/Harrisburg), freshman Imran Hussain (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy), junior Stephan Donsall(Berwick, PA/Berwick), freshman Cameron Dunbar (Beverly, NJ/Princeton Day School), freshman Steve Jones (Harrisburg, PA/Harrisburg) and sophomore Michael Binz. Grab and Hussain have shown they can be consistent contenders with their best finishes coming in the Albright Invitational were they finished 22nd and 25th respectively.

The Lions are coming off one of their best performances of the season in which the men placed 11th and the women placed 10th against the tough local competition of Elizabethtown, Shippensburg, Salisbury, Gettysburg, Penn State Berks and Millersville at the Elizabethtown Invitational.

Penn State Harrisburg will run against Cazenovia College, University of Dallas, Keuka College, Penn State Abington, Penn State Berks, SUNY IT, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Morrisville, Wells College and the College of Saint Elizabeth for the NEAC championship held on the SUNY Institute of Technology campus.