Mylan Park to Host PAC Track Championships Starting Thursday

Grove City Men, Westminster Women Tabbed Favorites in Coaches Poll

4/24/2024 1:00:00 PM

TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - The 2024 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships are scheduled for this Thursday-Friday, April 25-26 at the Track & Field Complex at Mylan Park in Morgantown, W.Va. 

Note for Spectators coming to Mylan Park: There will be a $5 charge for parking this year.

The 2024 championships will begin Thursday at 4 p.m. with six field event finals, including men's and women's javelin, men's and women's triple jump and men's and women's pole vault. Preliminaries in the men's 100 meters and 110-meter hurdles and the women's 100 meters and 100-meter hurdles will be the first events held on the track. Following those preliminaries will be the Men's and then Women's 3,000-meter Steeplechase before the final events on Thursday evening, the Men's and then Women's 10,000-meter run.

Twenty-eight event finals are scheduled to get underway at 2 p.m. Friday, starting with men's high jump and shot put and women's long jump and discus in the field. Events on the track begin at 2:30 with the Men's 400-meter relay, followed by the Women's 400-meter Relay The awards ceremony is tentatively planned for 7:05 p.m. Friday evening.

Allegheny College is the defending PAC women's champion after scoring 157 points over the two-day championship meet to finish in front of runner-up Westminster College, who totaled 141 points, while Grove City College finished third (117.67) and Chatham University was fourth (106).

Westminster was selected as the favorite in the pre-championships coaches poll, collecting eight first-place votes and 86 points, while Allegheny (76 points, one first-place vote) and Grove City (72 points, one first-place vote) came in second and third respectively. Full results can be viewed below.

Among the all-conference performers from a year ago returning to help Allegheny head coach Ben Mourer, last year's PAC Coach of the Year, and the Gators try to repeat is junior Emma Miller (Elyria, Ohio/Lake Ridge Academy), who was the PAC champion in the shot put (13.20m/43-3) a season ago.

Also competing again this season is Chatham junior Aurielle Brunner (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle). She repeated as the PAC Most Outstanding Field Performer and PAC Most Outstanding Overall Performer after winning the triple jump (11.85m/38-10.50), long jump (5.43m/17-9.75) and high jump (1.55m/5-1). She also ran the anchor leg on the winning 4x400 relay (4:04.03), ran on the second place 4x100 relay (49.62) and placed third in the 100 (12.54).

The 2023 PAC men's championship was won by Grove City, the 20th league title in program history, as the Wolverines amassed 167 team points to outdistance second-place Geneva College, who scored 110 points, and Washington & Jefferson College, who was third with 101 points. Grove City head coach Jessica Smith was recognized as PAC Coach of the Year following the meet.

Two major award winners return for the Wolverines this season to help their potential repeat efforts. Senior Gabe Dunlap (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford) captured Field Most Valuable Performer recognition after he scored in five field events, including third in the long jump (21-6), third in the triple jump (42-7.5), sixth in the pole vault, sixth in the javelin, seventh in the high jump and would also run a leg on Grove City's third-place 400 relay team.

In addition, Grove City sophomore Alex Mitchell (Hummelstown, Pa./Harrisburg Christian) returns after earning the 2023 PAC Newcomer of the Year award. Mitchell won the 400 in a conference-record time of 48.50 seconds and would also take third in the 200 (22.10), eighth in the 100 and closed the meet by running on Grove City's third-place 1600 relay.

Another top award winner back this year is Saint Vincent senior Tim Patterson (Butler, Pa./Butler), who was named the PAC's 2023 Track Most Valuable Performer, the first student-athlete in Saint Vincent history to earn the honor. He won the 10,000 (32:49.71) and 5,000 (15:18.13) and earned a fourth-place finish in the 3,000 steeplechase.

This year's Pre-Championships Coaches Poll has Grove City as a strong favorite, with the Wolverines gathering nine first-place votes and 90 points, ahead of second place W&J with the final first-place vote and 80 points. Full results can be viewed below.

This year's top seeds are listed below and can also be viewed on the PAC Women's Performance List and PAC Men's Performance List.

K&J Timing (Wheeling, W.Va.) will be providing the meet management, timing and officiating services. 

Built in 2018 and officially opened in 2019, the Track & Field Complex at Mylan Park features an eight-lane competition track with a Mondo running surface. The complex also features areas for long jump, triple jump, high jump and a fully enclosed grass infield for hammer, discus and javelin throw. It is the home of the West Virginia University (WVU) track and field and cross country teams.

Division III National Qualifiers
For each woman's individual event contested (including the pentathlon), the top 20 declared student-athletes will be accepted into the competition. For each men's individual event contested (including the heptathlon), the top 20 declared student-athletes will be accepted into the competition. For each relay event contested, the top 12 declared teams will be accepted into the competition.
(Current Division III Qualifying Lists: Women | Men)
 
2024 PAC Women's Outdoor Track & Field Top Seeds
* = 2023 PAC Champion
Event Athlete - School Year Top Time/Distance/Height
100  Jess Fatigati* - Westminster SR 12.21
200 Aurielle Brunner - Chatham JR 25.29
400  Zoe Romanowski - Allegheny SR 1:00.22
800 Miranda Cincotta - Saint Vincent SO 2:16.26
1,500  Lydia Bennett - Grove City FR 4:43.95
5,000 Claire Anderson - W&J SO 17:47:05
10,000 Grace Reid-Vensel - W&J FR 40:06.88
100 Hurdles Sarah Schneider - W&J SO 15.10
400 Hurdles Jadyn Hartner - W&J SR 1:03.97
3000 Steeple  Marrin Crist - Allegheny JR 11:20.59
4x100 Relay Westminster* 48.73
4x400 Relay Allegheny 4:01.27
High Jump Breannda Davis - Westminster SR 1.69m / 5-6.5
Pole Vault Emma Rudolph* - Westminster SR 3.85m / 12-7.5
Long Jump Aurielle Brunner* - Chatham JR 5.58m / 18-3.75
Triple Jump Aurielle Brunner* - Chatham JR 11.63m / 38-2
Shot Put  Lexi Shiderly - Westminster JR 12.81m / 42-0.5
Discus Shelby Rambo - Westminster SO 43.08m / 141-4
Javelin Grace Tice* - Bethany JR 39.44m / 129-5
 
2024 PAC Men's Outdoor Track & Field Top Seeds
* = 2023 PAC Champion
Event Athlete - School Year Top Time/Distance/Height
100  Anthony Cestaro - W&J SO 10.92
200 Anthony Cestaro - W&J SO 21.85
400  Alexander Mitchell* - Grove City SO 48.74
800 Kevin Arseneaux* - Geneva JR 1:54.18
1,500  Kevin Arseneaux* - Geneva JR 3:49.12
5,000 Brock Pennington - W&J JR 14:51.37
10,000 Matt Beuermann - Thiel GR 32:01.37
110 Hurdles Ian Baughman - W&J JR 14.97
400 Hurdles Ian Baughman - W&J JR 54.67
3000 Steeple  Daniel Deal - W&J JR 9:45.04
4x100 Relay Bethany 42.67
4x400 Relay Grove City 3:21.97
High Jump Jack Garvin* - Geneva GR 1.95m / 6-4.75
Pole Vault Grant Miller - Allegheny FR 4.50m / 14-9
Long Jump Aaron Moon - Allegheny JR 7.03m / 23-0.75
Triple Jump Nick Petucci - Grove City SO 13.50m / 44-3.5
Shot Put  Nick Gustafson* - Grove City SR 15.17m / 49-9.25
Discus Ryan Lenhart* - Grove City JR 47.16m / 154-9
Javelin Gabe Dunlap - Grove City SR 53.26m / 174-9

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