Bison Men Finish Sixth at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational

Friday, September 11

University Park, Pa.

10:45 a.m.

Bucknell University

Spiked Shoe Invitational

Photo by: Steven Schoenfelder

Bison Men Finish Sixth at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational

9/11/2026 2:28:00 PM | Men's Cross Country

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Bucknell men's cross country (1-0) tested itself against some of the East's top programs on Friday morning at Penn State's Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational. The Bison finished sixth out of eight teams and junior captain Ethan Pratt-Perez headlined the Orange & Blue effort by placing 11th.

Results

"We may have been a bit too far back in the early stages of the race," head coach Kevin Donner reasoned. "However, our team score was going down at all the checkpoints throughout the race, which is a good thing to see in early September. Ethan ran a very good race to establish himself as one of the better runners in the league and region."

Syracuse easily won the event, scoring the lowest possible mark of 15 points. The Orange had eight of the top ten runners with Pittsburgh claiming the other two spots. Ethan Pratt-Perez, therefore, registered as the highest finisher of the non-Pittsburgh and Syracuse brigade. The Bison junior logged his best-ever time in the 5.2-mile course, running 25:51.4.

"Right now I'm obviously exhausted, but about two and a half miles in, the Syracuse guys started picking it up, and I started to feel it," Pratt-Perez remarked after the race. "I had a side stitch and a stitch in my lung. I just kept telling myself I'm in a good position and don't let go of this. I tried a breathing technique while I was out there. I don't know what I did, but I was able to hold it off and have a strong finish."

Pratt-Perez sat 37th after the first 1200 meters. By 7200 meters, the Bison harrier positioned himself 18th. In the final kick, he found another gear and shifted into overdrive. He improved upon his win in the season-opening dual against Lafayette and looks ready to make a run at the Patriot League title.

"Very, very good start," Pratt-Perez said. "You know, summer training will do that for you."

Freshman Sean Wemmlinger, for the second straight week, was Bucknell's second-best runner. The rookie finished 33rd, running 26:38.8. He was 55th in the opening 1200 meters, he jumped up 22 spots, displaying strong resilience for a newcomer on a historically difficult course.

David Carillo placed 41st for the Bison, clocking 26:56.5. Like Wemmlinger, he started the race grouped in the 50s before escaping the pack and moving up the ranks.

Three Bison were herded together at 45th, 46th, and 47th. The first two runners, Andrew Young and Carter Paul, rounded out the Bucknell scorers. Cooper Hollinger, the third runner, narrowly missed adding points to Bucknell's coffers. Young, who ran 27:07.1, placed 120th two years ago at the same meet. Carter Paul logged 27:09.4 and Hollinger raced 27:12.1.

Pittsburgh finished second and Penn State placed third. Saint Joseph's and American were fourth and fifth. Buffalo and Monmouth, at seventh and eighth, followed Bucknell.

Bucknell will rest and train for three weeks before resuming competition at Lehigh's Paul Short Run on Oct. 2.