University Park, Pa. (October 17, 2008)--The Mount St. Mary's men's and women's cross country teams competed at the highly competitive Penn State National Invitational on Friday at the Blue/White Golf Course. The Mount men placed 24th in the field of 28 while the women's team finished 27th of 28.

On the men's side, Matt Logie Germantown, Md./Northwest) was the Mount's top finisher, placing 129th in the field of 306 runners with a time of 27:05 for the 5.2 mile course. Kyle Ryan (New Market, Md./Linganore) was the second-fastest Mountaineer with a time of 27:13, good for 147th place. Rounding out the Mount's top five were Dylan Bernard (Frederick, Md./Urbana) (27:40, 184th), Morgan Sowell (Frederick, Md./Frederick) (28:05, 217th) and Justin Brackett (Point Pleasant, N.J./Toms River North) (28:10, 224th).

On the women's side, the Mount's top finisher was Brianne Vozzella (Hershey, Pa./Lower Dauphin), who finished the 6K Course with a time of 24:14 to place 223rd. Just four spots behind was Jessica Rafeedie (Germantown, Md./Northwest) with a time of 24:16. Rounding out the top five were Liz Kessler (Mount Laurel, N.J./Paul VI) (24:23, 236th), Christina Praydis (Perry Hall, Md./The Catholic School of Baltimore) (25:44, 280th) and Brianna Mannuccia (Wrightstown, N.J./Northern Burlington Regional) (28:14, 298th).

The Mount's next competition will be the Northeast Conference Championships on November 1 at Holmdel Park in West Holmdel, N.J.