The injury-depleted Pitt cross-country team traveled to State College last weekend to compete… The injury-depleted Pitt cross-country team traveled to State College last weekend to compete in the Penn State National Invitational, their final meet of the regular season. The injuries have knocked key runners out for the year, but their absence has created opportunities for some of the younger athletes to step up into leadership roles.

On Saturday, juniors Steve Gonzalez and Suzy Bossart and sophomore Candice Coholich were among the runners who added depth to the Panthers’ line up.

Despite their encouraging improvement, head coach Alonzo Webb was not overly pleased with the weekend’s results.

“I think we just need to compete as we know we can,” Webb said. “The last few weeks we have not been running like we are capable.”

Injuries have impaired the men so much that they were only able to compete with six runners at Penn State instead of seven, but still managed to post a 14th-place team finish. The men were once again led by sensational sophomore Sam Bair, who finished 18th overall with a time of 25:52. Bair looks to continue a season of top finishes with the Big East Championships in two weeks.

“I think Sam has top-five potential,” Webb said of Bair’s chances at the Big East Championship. “It would be great if he could finish that high because we have not had that happen on the men’s side in quite a while. Tim Konoval should also run very, very well and could easily make the top 25.”

Konoval, a junior, validated the confidence his coach has in him by coming in second for the Panther men and 39th overall. Rounding out the top three was the surprising Gonzalez with a time of 26:49.

“We didn’t have a full squad. We needed someone to step up,” Gonzalez said on www.pittsburghpanthers.com “I was glad I could make a move at the end.”

His coach was also impressed with his performance.

“Gonzalez ran well, and that’s very encouraging,” Webb said.

Senior Nicki Angstadt remained the leader on the women’s team, finishing in 50th place with a time of 22:15. Coholich and Bossart rounded out the top three, finishing with times of 23:16 and 23:29, respectively. Also turning in a key performance was senior Abby Zaylor with a time of 23:34. The women finished in 23rd place as a team.

With the regular season behind them, both teams are shifting their focus to two things: the upcoming Big East Championships and getting themselves healthy.

“The injuries are really discouraging because going into the season we felt like we could do a lot this year,” Webb said. “We have two weeks to recover and I don’t have any doubt that we’ll do fine. We always compete well at the big meets.”

The Panthers will head to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx on Friday, Oct. 28, for the Big East Championships. The race will be televised nationally via tape delay on College Sports Television at 9 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13.

The Panthers will have added confidence going into the race because of their familiarity with the course. They last ran it on Sept. 24 in the Iona Meet of Champions. Webb is optimistic about their chances going into the race, but admitted there is still room for improvement.

“We still need to improve on running closer together and moving the pack more towards the front,” he said, “but I think we will represent ourselves pretty well.”