Syracuse earns 2nd straight sweep at Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational
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Syracuse men’s cross country has maintained a perfect start to its 2026 campaign after sweeping the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational in University Park, Pennsylvania, Friday. The Orange also swept the Harry Lang Invitational in Hamilton, New York, last weekend.
SU’s women’s team opened Friday’s meet with a huge upset. Penn State’s women’s team was ranked 10th in the country to begin the season, and the unranked Orange beat the Nittany Lions 32-36. Last season, Penn State won the same event 19-50.
Sophomore Keira Rogan placed first Friday, finishing the 6K in 20:15.1. Rogan won the event by 6.9 seconds over Pittsburgh’s Maureen Cheruiyot. SU junior Jayden Harberts was also on the podium with a time of 20:37.2. Last year in the event, Harberts finished 12th in 21:03.5.
Syracuse junior Maisie Burns followed in sixth (20:53.8), sophomore Gretta Johnson crossed in 10th (21:03.1) and junior Carmen Luisi (21:10.0) ended in 12th.
The men’s side replicated last year’s performance, sweeping the 5.2 mile to win the event for the fifth straight year. Syracuse notched a perfect 15 points while Pittsburgh (55) and Penn State (94) placed second and third.
SU junior Connell Alford finished first with a time of 25:27.6 after placing sixth at last year’s event. Behind him were Connor Ackley (25:30.7), Benne Anderson (25:33.0), Louis Small (25:34.0) and Edward Blaha (25:34.9) in second, third, fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Syracuse is now rewarded with a weekend off before traveling to Princeton for the Princeton Invitational on Sept. 26.
