Penn College Men Win Third Straight Cross Country Championship
Published 10.16.2005
Pennsylvania College of Technology sophomore Tom Lambert of Bangor won the individual Penn State University Athletic Conference men's cross country championship Saturday in a time of 28:02 and led the Wildcat men to their third straight conference title and fourth in five years under coach Mike Paulhamus.
"He had a real good run. He dominated the race from start to finish," Paulhamus said.
"He worked hard. As soon as my practices were over, he would run another four, five or six miles on his own. He was dedicated. He had a goal that he wanted to achieve this year and he put 110 percent behind it," the coach said.
Teamwise, Penn College finished with 37 points, followed by Penn State Schuylkill, 61; Penn State DuBois, 70; Penn State Scranton, 85; Penn State Mont Alto, 113; and Penn State Harrisburg, 125.
Individually for the Penn College men, John Zaginaylo (Columbia-Montour) was fifth over a 5-mile course in 29:09, Dan LaSota (Western Wayne) was 10th in 30:32, Ryan O'Connor (Southwest Central, N.Y.) was 13th 30:45, Chad Hunsberger (Pottsgrove) was 23rd in 32:22, Devon Luckabaugh (Dallastown) was 24th in 32:48, Ben Myers (Hempfield) was 33rd in 34:06, Mike Womelsdorf (Allentown) was 39th in 37:47 and Patrick Wisinski (Erie) was 41st in 38:42.
"We just blew everyone away. Everybody on the team brought their 'A' game," Paulhamus said.
This season, the Penn College men were 19-0 in PSUAC meets and are 52-0 in conference meets over the past three seasons, having won 12 straight conference invitationals during that span.
"Of all my coaching jobs, this (year) was one of my toughest because, when we came in, I had only two starters back, so basically it was a rebuilding year," Paulhamus said. "Everybody came in and worked hard and they made themselves into a champion."
On the women's side, the Lady Wildcats had 35 points and finished second to Penn State DuBois, which had 20 points.
Lindsey Edwards (Williamsport) placed fourth over a 3.1-mile course in 23:58, Shannon Gibble (Coudersport) was sixth in 24:55, Angela Valentine (Tamaqua) was eighth in 25:54 and Tracey Seyler of Chambersburg was 10th in 26:28.