Sept. 23, 2006

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Panthers traveled to Penn State for the Spiked Shoe Invitational, their second meet of the season. Pitt's men's team placed fifth overall with 142 points while the women placed 14th with 407 points. Syracuse won both the men's and women's competitions.

"On the women's side, we're a young team," said Head Coach Alonzo Webb. "Three of our top five girls were out of the meet, and psychologically it would have been good for the team if they were there. But we know what to work on, and we'll improve as the season goes on. On the men's side, we were missing our number one runner, but I think that only made a small difference. The team is confident in their ability and what they're going to do this year."

The men's team was led by senior Tim Konoval (Parry Sound, Ontario/Parry Sound/Central Connecticut State). He placed eighth with a time of 26:22.80. The second Panther to cross the finish line was senior Mike Long (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville North) in 21st at 26:47.90. He improved his time on this course by almost a half a minute from last year. Senior Eric Fleming (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) placed 34th with a time of 27:03.80. Andy Tomaswick (Natrona Heights, Pa./Highlands) came in 39th at 27:07.50, and freshman Lane King (Fairview, Pa./Fairview) was right behind him in 40th at 27:07.75.

"It was good to see that our team is moving in the right direction," said Long. "We still have further to go, but it's a good benchmark to build on for the rest of the season."

"Today's race was big for us," said King. "It's the first step towards our ultimate goal of making it to nationals. Being a freshman and contributing already, means a lot to me. I like stepping into this program and being able to help out."

The women's team was led by sophomore Monica Bhattacharjee (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield). She finished in 51st with a time of 23:31.65, improving her time on this course by a half a minute. Junior Nikki Bielick (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Salem) was next in 65th with a time of 23:38.95, improving her time by over a minute. Senior Suzy Bossart (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Salem) placed 85th at 24:04.60. Sophomore Aly Brown (Hickory, Pa./Fort Cherry) finished in 103rd with a time of 24:20.90, and fellow freshman Rachel Botham (Shoreline, Wash./Shorewood) took 103rd at 24:41.50.

"I thought we did well, but we definitely have a lot of work to do," said Bhattacharjee. "This is the first big meet, and it's a good way to gauge where we're at. We just need to keep getting better and build up as the season goes on."

"As the training progresses, we'll get stronger," said Bossart. "We'll start doing some speed training in preparation for the next couple of meets, and things are looking good for the future. We're on track to run well at the end of the season."

Next up for the Panthers is the Paul Short Invitational. The team will compete on Friday, Sept. 29 at Lehigh where they'll face several regional teams.

NOTES - Also competing for the Panthers today was Curtis Larimer (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Steve Gonzalez (Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop), Eric Burnett (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) and Kyle Kaminski (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) for the men. On the women's side, the team had Melissa Vignetti (Pittsburgh, Pa./McMurray), Megan Heenan (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Hinsdale Central) and Shannon Moore (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Gulifoyle).