TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - After winning the title last season, the Allegheny College women's cross country program was selected as the favorite in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) this fall, according to the league's annual preseason coaches' poll. The results of this year's poll, voted on by the PAC's 11 head coaches, were announced with the PAC's Runners to Watch List Tuesday. 

Seventh-year head coach Ben Mourer and the Gators claimed six of 11 first-place votes and 93 total points to earn the top spot in this year's poll.

After winning 16 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championships, Allegheny claimed its first-ever PAC crown in its first year back in the conference in 2022. The Gators posted 41 points in the 6K race and saw its five scoring runners finish in the top 14 of the 11-team, 107-runner field to place ahead of runner-up Geneva College, who scored 83 points. Mourer was selected as the PAC Coach of the Year following the Championships.

Geneva, led by fifth-year head coach Phil Thompson, also came in second in this year's preseason balloting, securing four first-place votes and 90 points. Ranking third was Saint Vincent College with 79 points, while Grove City College, winners of a PAC-best 27 conference titles, collected one first-place vote and 78 points.

Coming in fifth place was Washington & Jefferson College with 59 points, followed by Franciscan University in sixth (56), Waynesburg University in seventh (51), Chatham University in eighth (40), Westminster College in ninth (25), Thiel College in 10th (23) and Bethany College (11).

This season’s Runners to Watch list features 13 All-PAC runners from a season ago, including five First Team All-PAC selections, four Second Team All-PAC selections and four Honorable Mention performers from last fall. 

Highlighting this year's Runners to Watch list are Saint Vincent sophomore Kristen Prince (Prince Frederick, Md./Calvert), W&J senior Cassie Carr (Girard, Pa./Girard) and Geneva junior Carmen Medvit (New Castle, Pa./Shenango).

Prince returns after earning the PAC Newcomer of the Year award and was a First Team All-PAC honoree after placing third at the PAC Championship meet held at Saint Vincent. She went on to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Championship after placing 11^th in a field of 209 runners at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship, becoming the first Saint Vincent female runner to compete at the NCAA National Cross Country Championship since Ivette Mejia in 2011.

After placing third at PAC Championships as a sophomore, Carr jumped one spot to finish second overall at the 2022 conference meet for her second consecutive First Team All-PAC honor. Then at the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional, she paced the Presidents with a time of 22:36.6 to finish 12th and earn All-Region status for the second consecutive year.

Later in the spring, Carr added another honor, being voted to the 2022-23 NCAA Division III Academic All-America® Team for Women's Track & Field/Cross Country, as selected by the College Sports Communicators (CSC). She became the first member of the W&J women's track & field/women's cross country programs to earn Academic All-America® since Jennifer Baumgartel did so in 1999.

Medvit's first season with the Golden Tornadoes featured a strong finish that sent her to national championships. She helped Geneva take second at PAC Championships with a 13th-place finish to earn Second Team All-PAC distinction. At the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, Medvit finished in ninth place overall, which not only helped her team place seventh out of 29 teams at the meet but also qualified her for the Division III Championships, where she would finish 156th out of 292 runners.

The Runners to Watch list also includes 24 members of the Fall 2022 PAC Academic Honor Roll, which recognizes student-athletes on varsity sports teams who have earned a grade-point average (GPA) of 3.6 or higher on a 4.0 scale during their semester of competition.

On Saturday, October 28, Thiel will host the 2023 PAC Championships at the Greenville Airport. The men's 8,000-meter race will begin at 11 a.m., followed by the women's 6,000-meter race at 12 p.m.

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. 
 

2023 PAC Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll (Predicted order of finish)
School (first-place votes)	Points	2022 Conference finishes
1. Allegheny College (6)	93	1st (of 11) at PAC Championships, 41 pts.
2. Geneva College (4)	90	2nd (of 11) at PAC Championships, 83 pts.
3. Saint Vincent College	79	3rd (of 11) at PAC Championships, 93 pts.
4. Grove City College (1)	78	4th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 104 pts.
5. Washington & Jefferson College	59	7th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 151 pts.
6. Franciscan University	56	5th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 144 pts.
7. Waynesburg University	51	6th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 149 pts.
8. Chatham University	40	8th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 172 pts.
9. Westminster College	25	10th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 283 pts.
10. Thiel College	23	9th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 270 pts.
11. Bethany College	11	11th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 320 pts.

2023 PAC Women's Cross Country Runners to Watch
1=2023 1st Team All-PAC / 2=2nd Team All-PAC / HM = Honorable Mention

Allegheny College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Celia Cocca (HM)	Jr.	East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora
Nelly Stafford (2)	Jr.	Middletown, Md./Middletown
Mazzie Standish (1)	Jr.	Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny

 

Bethany College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Leah Crihfield	Jr.	Buckhannon, W.Va./Buckhannon-Upshur
Catharina Recabeitia	So.	Buenos Aires, Argentina/Escuela normal superior “Vicente Fatone”
Deena Rosenthal	So.	Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Park
Karley Trinidad	Sr.	Lusby, Md./Patuxent

 

Chatham University
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Clare Erwin (1)	Jr.	Milford, N.J./Delaware Valley Regional
Piper Young	Fr.	Pine City, N.Y./Notre Dame

 

Franciscan University
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Jessica Campbell	Jr.	Medina, Ohio/Medina
Lauren Dosch	Fr.	Grand Forks, N.D./Red River
Rachel Hurley (HM)	Jr.	Sterling, Va./Homeschool

 

Geneva College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Hailey Carroll (2)	So.	Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap
Madison Castro (2)	Jr.	Colorado Springs, Colo./Evangelical Christian Academy
Jordann Hicks	Fr.	Punxsutawney, Pa./Punxsutawney
Carmen Medvit (2)	So.	New Castle, Pa./Shenango

 

Grove City College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Lydia Bennett (2)	Jr.	Bethel, Maine/Gould Academy
Emma Fiscus	Jr.	Brookville, Pa./Brookville
Audrey Karwowski (HM)	So.	Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan
Cayla Lawrence	Fr.	Mendon, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima
Virginia Williams	Jr.	Copley, Ohio/Copley

 

Saint Vincent College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Lauran Brennan	Sr.	Saint Leonard, Md./Calvert
Miranda Cincotta (1)	So.	Emmitsburg, Md./St. John's Catholic Prep.
Cassy Lanza	So.	Shermans Dale, Pa./West Perry
Lily Murphy	So.	Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield
Kristen Prince (1)	So.	Prince Frederick, Md./Calvert

   

Thiel College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Hannah Jones	Sr.	Hadley, Pa./Commodore Perry
Madalyn Semmler	Fr.	Butler, Pa./Butler

   

Washington & Jefferson College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Claire Anderson (HM)	So.	Jamestown, Pa./Jamestown
Cassie Carr (1)	Sr.	Girard, Pa./Girard
Marie Gilles	So.	North Ridgeville, Ohio/Lake Ridge Academy
Chloe LoCastro	So.	Venetia, Pa./Peters Township

 

Waynesburg University
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Joula Anderson	Sr.	Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg-Salem
Reagan Pettis	So.	Albion, Pa./Northwestern
Gabi Reifsnyder	Sr.	Carlisle, Pa./Big Spring
Lilly Ryer	So.	Indiana, Pa./Marion Center
Grace Tanksley	So.	Bedford, Ind./Bedford North Lawrence

 

Westminster College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Kady Alexander	Fr.	Stoneboro, Pa./Lakeview
Monica Curtis	So.	Harborcreek, Pa./Harbor Creek
Sylvia Tsrnas	Fr.	Lowellville, Ohio/Cardinal Mooney