PAC Cross Country Championships set for Saturday

PAC Cross Country Championships set for Saturday

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GREENVILLE, Pa. (pacathletics.org) – The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is gearing up for its 2016 men's and women's Cross Country Championships, which will take place this Saturday at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania for the second-straight year.

The league championship will be the 59th annual event for the men, while the women will be competing in the conference's 33rd annual championship race.

The women’s six-kilometer (6K) race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., followed by the men’s eight-kilometer (8K) race at 12 p.m. A brief awards ceremony will take place on-site at approximately 1:30 p.m.

The top seven finishers in both the men’s and women’s championship races will receive All-PAC first team recognition, while runners placing eighth through 14th earn All-PAC second team honors. Runners finishing 15th through 21st will receive Honorable Mention recognition.

All 10 PAC programs are scheduled to participate in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championships on Saturday, November 12. The Mideast Regional is being hosted by DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania.

The NCAA Division III Championships, scheduled for Saturday, November 18, are being hosted by the Louisville Sports Commission and Spalding University at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky.

Men
Saint Vincent, winners of the last six PAC team titles, placed four of its runners in the top 10 and totaled 40 points at last year's league championships. Current Saint Vincent senior Brandon Moretton (North Huntingdon, Pa. / Norwin) earned his second-straight individual title and PAC Runner of the Year honors after posting a winning time of 26:58 last year. Moretton is looking to become the first men’s competitor to win three-straight individual titles since Grove City College’s Garrett Cichowitz (2008-2010).

Washington & Jefferson College, led by reigning PAC Coach of the Year Dale Boring and sophomore Harley Moyer (Akron, Ohio / Firestone), last year's runner-up, lead the pack of teams looking to unseat Saint Vincent as champions. The Presidents finished second a season ago with 71 points.

Led by 14th-year head coach Dr. Andrew Herr, Saint Vincent collected six first-place votes and 94 points to headline this year's PAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Bearcats were ninth in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III Mideast Regional rankings.

Grove City finished third (85) in 2015 and was followed by Geneva College in fourth (98), Thomas More College in fifth (138), Waynesburg University in sixth (171), Bethany College in seventh (183), Thiel College in eighth (217), Chatham University in ninth (230) and Westminster College in 10th (246).

Women
Grove City, winners of the last 27-straight PAC titles, finished with five runners in the top seven of last year’s 107-runner championship field. Led by 13th-year head coach Sean Severson, the Wolverines totaled 29 points to edge second-place Waynesburg (35).

Geneva finished third with 120 points at last season’s championships, followed by Thiel in fourth (144), Saint Vincent in fifth (147), Westminster in sixth (154), W&J in seventh (187), Bethany in eighth (190), Chatham in ninth (249) and Thomas More in 10th (253).

Grove City’s Emily Rabenold earned the event's individual title and PAC Runner of the Year honors for the third-consecutive time last season after posting a winning time of 23:05. She is just the third runner in league history to win three individual women’s cross country titles (Grove City’s Kristen Carter, 2006-2008; Grove City’s Elisa Peterson, 2002-2005).

Also at last year’s championships, current Waynesburg junior Julie Gerber (Uniontown, Pa. / Uniontown) finished second with a time of 23:18 and was followed by current Grove City junior Martha Mim (Stone Ridge, N.Y. / Rondout Valley) in third (23:28). 

Waynesburg, led by seventh-year head coach Chris Hardie, returns all five of its championship scorers from last fall. The Yellow Jackets finished with seven first-place votes and 97 points to headline this year’s PAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Ranked seventh in the latest USTFCCCA Division III Mideast Regional rankings, Waynesburg had been picked second in the previous four PAC preseason polls. The Yellow Jackets are pursuing the program’s first-ever league title.