GREENVILLE, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Saint Vincent College won its ninth overall Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men' Cross Country Championship Saturday morning at the conference meet hosted by Thiel College at the Greenville Airport.

In the 66th overall cross country championship in PAC history, Saint Vincent totaled 56 points, aided by five all-conference runners, to outdistance second-place Washington & Jefferson College, who finished with 71 points. The conference crown was the first since 2019 for the Bearcats, who also had a run of seven consecutive PAC championships from 2010-16.

Finishing third was Allegheny College with 76 points, while Grove City College was fourth with 99 points. They were followed in fifth place by Geneva College (102), Waynesburg University in sixth (155), Franciscan University in seventh (165), Thiel College in eighth (241), Westminster College in ninth (268) and Chatham University in 10th (286). Bethany College only had individuals compete at the Championships.

The PAC Runner of the Year Award, as well as First Team All-PAC laurels, went to Geneva junior Kevin Arseneaux (Yarmouth Port, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth Regional), which he earned by finishing first overall in the 114-runner field with a time of 25:52.44. He is the first Golden Tornado to capture the PAC individual championship in cross country and it's his second time earning First Team All-PAC after he finished third a year ago.

The second place finisher, W&J freshman Dominic Flitcraft (Aliquipa, Pa./Hopewell), earned First Team All-PAC and PAC Newcomer of the Year as the highest placing freshman. He finished in a time of 26:05.42 to become just the second President to earn the top newcomer honor in the conference (Paul Collier, 2019).

Pacing the Saint Vincent championship efforts were a pair of First Team All-PAC performers. Bearcat senior Tim Patterson (Butler, Pa./Butler) was third overall with a time of 26:10.72, while his junior teammate, Ethan Wymer (Butler, Pa./Knoch), joined him on First Team by placing seventh overall.

Racing to the final three spots on First Team All-PAC was W&J junior Brock Pennington (North East, Pa./North East) in fourth place, Waynesburg senior Andrew Kasper (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) in fifth place and Allegheny senior Peter Lantz (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg) taking sixth place.

Earning PAC Coach of the Year was Saint Vincent's Kevin Wanichko, who was voted to the honor for the first time in his career and is the first Saint Vincent coach to receive the award since Dr. Andrew Herr in 2016. 

The top seven finishers in both the men's and women's races received All-PAC First Team recognition, while runners finishing eighth through 14th earned All-PAC Second Team honors. Runners finishing 15th through 21st received All-PAC Honorable Mention recognition. 

The PAC also released its 2023 PAC Sportmanship Team Saturday. The PAC Sportsmanship Teams were established to recognize student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior and are an ongoing effort to recognize and encourage positive sportsmanship among all PAC teams.

The 10 Division III regional championships are scheduled for Saturday, November 11. Bethany, Chatham, Geneva, Grove City, Saint Vincent, Thiel, W&J, Waynesburg and Westminster will compete in the Mid-Atlantic region, while Allegheny and Franciscan will compete in the Great Lakes region. The Division III Mid-Atlantic Championships will be hosted by Susquehanna University at Lock Haven University's West Branch Cross Country Course, while John Carroll University will host the Division III Great Lakes Championships at Silver Creek Metro Park in Norton, Ohio near Akron. 

The Division III Championships are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 18 in Newville, Pa. Dickinson College will host the national championships at Big Spring High School.