NEW YORK – CHAMPS! The University of Pennsylvania men's cross country team captured the 2019 Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championship on Friday afternoon at Van Cortlandt Park with 62 points after packing all five championship scorers inside the race's top 20.
Penn's crown is its second in the last four years and fourth all-time and came in thrilling fashion, edging Harvard by three points and Princeton by six in one of the closest Heps finishes in history.
Anthony Russo led the Quakers with a runner-up result, crossing the line in 24:38.3, the best finish by a Penn runner since Tom Awad won back-to-back individual titles in 2014 and 2015. Russo earned first-team All-Ivy distinction, the only Quaker to do so, but all five of Penn's scorers surged into the top 20 by the end of the five-mile race.
Heading into the race, Penn boasted an experienced squad and that proved vital on Friday. Senior Will Daly picked up a top-10 finish with a time of 24:59.7 before a trio of juniors – Ryan Renken, Daniel Cohen and Alex Roth – rounded out the championship scorers with 14th-, 17th- and 19th-place finishes. Daly and Renken both earned second-team All-Ivy honors.
The men's title came just after the Penn women's cross country team scored an impressive third-place finish, buoyed by Maddie Villalba's fourth-place run. Villalba's finish is just the second time a Quaker crossed the line in the top four since 1991; Ashley Montgomery placed second in 2016.
The Red and Blue scored 89 points, tying Harvard for second – the Crimson win the tiebreaker because an individual placed third – and behind Columbia's 57 points.
Unlike the men, the women's team blends a mix of youth and experience into their top runners. Sophomore Ariana Gardizy and senior Nia Akins crossed the line in succession, in 13th and 14th, respectively, to earn second-team All-Ivy honors, while junior Melissa Tanaka (24th) and freshman Jessica Reidman (34th) rounded out the Red and Blue's scorers.
Penn Top Five:
Men (1st, 62 pts.):
2. Anthony Russo – 24:38.3
10. Will Daly – 24:59.7
14. Ryan Renken – 25:08.2
17. Daniel Cohen – 25:15.7
19. Alex Roth – 25:18.3
Women (3rd, 89 pts.):
4. Maddie Villalba – 21:02.1
13. Ariana Gardizy – 21:33.0
14. Nia Akins – 21:37.1
24. Melissa Tanaka – 22:00.9
34. Jessica Reidman – 22:12.9
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