Aaron Groff enjoyed his best day yet as a Penn Quaker Saturday, placing 16th out of 226 runners in the Princeton Invitational. Groff, who ran 9:07 for 3,200 meters last spring for Cherry Hill East, ran 24:39 over Princeton’s 8K course.
Groff was Penn’s top runner Saturday, and the Quakers placed third overall despite not using their top group, which had raced on Friday. Columbia won with 107 points, followed by Yale (104) and Penn (107).
Groff averaged 4:58 per mile and edged senior teammate Lyle Wistar by 3-10ths of a second to finish as Penn’s top finisher. Groff has been Penn’s sixth or seventh man in the two meets so far this fall that the Quakers have run at full strength.
Penn’s top group ran Friday at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Verona, Wisc.
Groff ran sub-15:40 twice at Holmdel last year, placing second in the state Group 4 race and third in the Meet of Champions.
Groff was the fourth freshman across the line Saturday at Princeton.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 