Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541990
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 6 13 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Florence Caron — Women's Cross Country Caron finished 14th overall at the NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship on Nov. 22 in Co- lumbia, Mo. A graduate student from La Malbaie, Quebec, she covered the 6-kilometer Gans Creek Cross Country Course in a personal-best 19:00.6 and earned All-America honors for the second consecutive year. Caron, who finished 19th in 2024, became the first Penn State harrier to win back-to-back All-America honors since Bridget Franek did so in 2008-09, and she turned in the team's best overall finish in a quarter-century, matching the 14th-place effort of Susanne Heyer in 2000. Gillian Grimes — Women's Volleyball Grimes was named the winner of the inaugu- ral Big Ten Libero of the Year award, claiming the honor on Dec. 2, along with first-team all-con- ference recognition. A senior from Westchester, Ill., Grimes averaged 3.68 digs per set during the regular season and reached double-digits in 24 of the Nittany Lions' 30 matches. Prior to this season, the Big Ten named a Defensive Player of the Year rather than giving an award specifically to a libero. Penn State's Kendall White won the honor in 2018 and '19, while Kaleena Walters claimed it in 2005. Kayden Mingo — Men's Basketball Mingo was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Dec. 1 after averaging 13.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 5.0 steals per game in wins over Boston University (96-87, Nov. 25) and Sacred Heart (90-59, Nov. 29). Mingo hit 10 of 18 shots (55.6 percent) from the field in those two games, and he followed with 21 points, 4 assists and 3 steals in an 87- 76 victory over Campbell on Dec. 2 that lifted the Nittany Lions to 8-1. Through 10 games, the point guard from Farmingdale, N.Y., was the Lions' leading scorer at 15.4 points per game and had also amassed a team-best 40 assists. Cole Mirasola — Wrestling Ranked 10th in the 285-pound weight class, Mir- asola opened his redshirt freshman season with a 5-2 decision over No. 24 Juan Mora in Penn State's 45-0 shutout of Oklahoma on Nov. 14. The follow- ing week at the Black Knight Invitational in West Point, N.Y., Mirasola finished first with four victo- ries, including falls in the tournament's first two rounds. The Jackson, Wis., native defeated one of his Penn State teammates, senior Lucas Cochran, 3-1, in the semifinals before concluding with a 10-6 decision over No. 15 Brady Colbert of Army in the final. PENN STATE'S TOP PERFORMERS BWI LIVE! Tuesday , Wednesday and Thursday Join the show live to interact with us in the live chat function. You can also ask a question for the BWI Mailbag, which ends the show. www.youtube.com/c/bluewhiteillustratedvideo Listen to the podcasts on Apple and Spotify Watch all of our shows on YouTube on the Blue White Illustrated channel By Matt Herb