GIBSONIA, Pa. (pacathletics.org)--Waynesburg University won its sixth-straight Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) women's cross country team title Saturday. 

Chatham University hosted this year's championships at its Eden Hall Campus. Chatham last hosted the PAC Championships in 2013. 

This year's championship race was the 38th annual event for the women. 

Waynesburg posted 54 points in this year's six-kilometer (6K) event, edging runner-up Franciscan University (55) by just one point. Saturday was the first time in league history the women's team championship was decided by one point. 

Waynesburg saw three of its five scoring runners finish in the top 10 in the 10-team, 88-runner field. 

Geneva College was third with 66 points and was followed by Grove City College in fourth (97), Chatham in fifth (164) and Washington & Jefferson College in sixth (165). Saint Vincent College was seventh (171), Bethany College was eighth (205), Westminster College was ninth (222) and Thiel College was 10th (248). 

Franciscan senior Alison Bryant (Arlington, Texas | Nolan Catholic) earned the event’s individual title and PAC Runner of the Year honors for the second-straight year after posting a winning time of 23 minutes, 33.07 seconds.  

Grove City freshman Lydia Bennett (Bethel, Maine | Gould Academy) was recognized as the PAC Newcomer of the Year. She finished in seventh place with a time of 25:08.55. 

Waynesburg's Chris Hardie was voted the league's Coach of the Year for the seventh time in the last eight years. 

The top seven finishers receive All-PAC First Team recognition, while runners finishing eighth through 14th earn All-PAC Second Team honors. Runners finishing 15th through 21st receive All-PAC Honorable Mention recognition.
 
The NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Committee, as well as the Division III Championships Committee, recently approved a 10-region realignment model for cross country that is effective September 1. Bethany, Chatham, Geneva, Grove City, Saint Vincent, Thiel, W&J, Waynesburg and Westminster will compete in the Mid-Atlantic region, while Franciscan will compete in the Great Lakes region. The 10 Division III regional championships are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 13. Dickinson College will host this year’s Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pa. Franklin College will host the Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships at Blue River Memorial Park in Shelbyville, Indiana.

The Division III Championships are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 20 and will be hosted by Spalding University and the Louisville Sports Commission at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky.