The Syracuse harriers closed out the 2011 cross country season at the NCAA championships on Monday placing 15th in the men’s race and 17th in the women’s 6k.

Seniors Pat Dupont and Lauren Penney led the way for each team with 37th- and 21st-place finishes, respectively. Dupont earned his second straight All-American selection, while Penney was named SU’s first-ever female cross country All-American.

Dupont’s time of 30:09.30 was best on the Orange and set the pace for the rest of the men’s team. Tito Medrano finished close behind in 67th place with a time of 30:44. Redshirt freshman Joe Whelan was the next SU runner to cross the finish line with a time of 30:51 (82nd).

Max Straneva (101st; 31:02) and Forrest Misenti (117th; 31:12) ran together throughout most of the race, rounding out the men’s scorers. Sophomore Sean Keefe and redshirt freshman Andrew Palmer also ran for the Orange.

Penney (20:19) closed out her senior season by finishing first for Syracuse, meaning she was the top female finisher for the Orange in every race in 2011. Junior Sarah Pagano finished second on the team and 52nd overall with a time of 20:49. Natalie Busby (82nd; 21:07), Heather Stephens (118th; 21:25) and Shaylyn Tuite (128th; 21:28) also contributed to the women’s 17th-place finish.

Rebekah MacKay and Jessie Petersen also ran for the Orange, placing 166th and 190th, respectively.

Head coach Chris Fox, recipient of the 2011 Northeast Region Coach of the Year, led both teams to fourth-place Big East finishes earlier this season. He also garnered two NCAA Northeast Regional titles for the third straight season and two top-20 finishes at the NCAA championships.

Compiled by Alex Ptachick, staff writer, acptachi@syr.edu

Published on November 21, 2011 at 12:00 pm