‘It’s my second home’: Pitt cross-country hosts Panther Opener

Pitt cross-country had their first — and final — home meet of the season. The Panthers swept this first and final home meet of the season and hope to replicate the impressive performance they had in Schenley Park throughout the season.

The 2024 Panther Opener occurred Friday, Aug. 30, at Schenley Park. The tri-meet included Pitt, Carnegie Mellon and Robert Morris’ men’s and women’s cross-country teams. 

The men’s 5K kicked off the meet, with laps around Schenley Park in the grass and gravel making up the course. 

Pitt senior Quintin Gatons took first place with a time of 14.40.4 — a 4:43 per mile pace. 

Gatons talked about his confidence running in Schenley Park for the meet. 

“I’ve run a lot of miles here”, Gatons said. “[I’m] pretty familiar with the area, and you know, it’s home for me.” 

Pitt junior Luke Simpson took second place with a time of 14:50.1 —a 4:46 per mile pace. This helped earn Pitt men’s cross-country a first-place finish with a team score of 25 points.

Simpson was especially proud of his team’s overall performance in their first race and feels confident for the upcoming season. 

“It’s the first race of the year,” Simpson said. “Just kind of feeling strong and feeling comfortable going forward.” 

On the women’s side, Pitt senior Winnie Incorvaia took first in the 5K with a time of 17.34.7. 

Incorvaia loves running in Schenley Park and enjoys having races on her home turf.

“It means so much,” Incorvaia said. “I literally run here every single day. I can run miles on this oval. So, yeah, it’s definitely like my second home at this point.”

Pitt graduate student Sadie Carey-Tharp took second, finishing with a time of 17:35.3. Last season, Incorvaia and Carey-Tharp were recognized with All-Region honors, with the latter earning All-ACC honors. 

The duo helped earn the women’s team first place in the Panther Opener with a total team score of 21 points.

The Panthers’ meet on Friday marks the second season with head cross-country coach Griff Graves. Both first-place finishers in the Panther Open noticed the difference in the program and themselves before Graves was at the helm.

“I owe a lot of my success to [Graves],” Gatons said. “He’s an amazing coach and even a better human being. This team is just really coming together nicely, and we couldn’t ask for anyone better.”

“[Graves] really changed the trajectory of this program,” Incorvaia said. “I remember coming in freshman year, our top seven were all freshman and sophomores, and now that Coach Graves is here our program really made that next big jump … I’m really excited to see where this program is gonna go this year.”

Eight first-years joined the Panthers for the 2024 season, four on the men’s and four on the women’s teams — Cole Casadei, Nolan McGinn, Thomas McMahon and Nick Steinfeldt on the men’s side, and Ella Cook, Gabby Keith, Sienna Miller and Sophie Mullins on the women’s side.

Simpson is happy with how smoothly the eight newcomers fit into the team and is excited to see how they run during the season.

“Our team’s kind of jelled with the freshmen coming in,” Simpson said. “It’s been quite seamless, and we’re really looking forward to what they can do.”

Next Pitt travels to Penn State for the Spiked Shoe Invitational on Sept. 13, an event Gatons and the Panthers have zeroed in on.

“We’re just taking it day by day, doing the little things right every day, and just building up for that,” Gatons said. “[All eyes are] on Penn State right now.”