PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's and women's cross country teams open the 2026 season on Friday at the Friar Invitational, hosted by Providence College. The course will run through Providence's Mark Coogan Cross Country Course at Highland Park, and the women compete at 4:30 p.m., followed by a 5:15 p.m. start for the men's race.
The Penn women enter the 2026 cross country season with a mix of returning experience and new faces after finishing fourth at the 2025 Ivy League Championships.
Izzy Rodriguez provides the Quakers with valuable championship and regional experience heading into the new season. Rodriguez finished 54th at last year's NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, clocking a personal-best 21:16.0. She will look to build on that performance as one of the team's returning competitors this season.
Penn will also see collegiate debuts for Allison Lee and Emily Reid, who will race in their first collegiate cross country meet on Friday. In addition, Kate Hos, Camille Jordan, Alexa Matora, Kelly Murray, and Quin Stovall will look to establish an early-season identity for the Red and Blue and begin building toward the Ivy League Championships.
The Penn men enter 2026 after finishing seventh at the 2025 Ivy League Championships. With seniors Kofi Fordjour and George Keen returning for their final seasons, the Quakers have an opportunity to use their experience as a strong foundation into the new year. Fordjour finished 20th at the Ivy League Championships (25:14.9) before running a personal-best 30:51.3 over 10k at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional. Keen placed 44th at the Ivy League Championships in 25:55.1.
Behind the two seniors, Penn saw several runners post personal bests to close the season. Shane Murphy ran 31:16.9 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional to finish 60th, while Esfan Daya and Shamus Larnard recorded personal bests of 31:53.6 and 32:15.7, respectively.
Competing on Friday for the Quakers
Men
Esfan Daya, Kofi Fordjour, Raghav Gopalakrishnan, Liam Jordan, George Keen, Chris Larnard, Nick Mazzeo, Shane Murphy, Vinay Raman, Joseph Ruiz
Women
Kate Hos, Camille Jordan, Allison Lee, Alexa Matora, Kelly Murray, Emily Reid, Izzy Rodriguez, Quin Stovall
Races in September:
Sept. 18 – Main Line Invitational
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