ABINGTON, Pa. – The Cairn University men's and women's cross country teams traveled Penn State Abington to compete in the Penn State Abington Invitational on Saturday. Both teams had their both best overall finishes of the season, as the women placed fifth out of ten teams while the men were ninth out of 13 teams.
 
For the women, the Highlanders were once again led by freshman Emily Petty (Fort Mill, SC / Northstar Academy) who placed 20^th in the 74-runner field with a 5K time of 25:55. Crossing next for the Highlanders was senior Aubrey Eshelman (Lancaster, PA / Lancaster County Christian) who finished the course in 26:55, good enough for 27^th place. Senior Isabella Palladino (Langhorne, PA / Homeschooled) followed behind Eshelman, crossing the finish line in 27:06 to finish in 29^th position. Sophomore Jeneba Koroma (Sharon Hill, PA / Christ Academy) was the final top-50 finisher for Cairn, earning a time of 28:26 to finish in 41^st place.
 
For the men, Cairn was paced by freshman Nicholas Palladino (Langhorne, PA / Homeschooled), who crossed first for the Highlanders with an 8K time of 34:12 to finish 42^nd in the 99-runner field. Crossing next for the Highlanders was sophomore Joseph Keeports (York, PA / Central York HS) with a time of 37:06 to place 62^nd. Senior Brian Jennings (Germantown, PA / Springside Chestnut Hill Academy) finished in 64^th place with a time of 37:20, while junior Tim Colgan finished right behind Jennings with a time of 37:48 for 65^th place. Senior Weston Colon (Fords, NJ / Woodbridge) rounded out the top-five finishers for Cairn, placing 77^th with a time of 41:11.
 
The women's and men's cross country teams will be back on the course next Friday, October 1 when they travel to Bethlehem to take part in the Paul Short Run, hosted by Lehigh University.