Women's Cross Country | 8/27/2025 11:00:00 AM
TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - In a narrow vote which saw the top five teams separated by only 12 points, defending champion Allegheny College earned the top spot in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) women's cross country poll. The results of this year's balloting, voted on by the PAC's 12 head coaches, were released Wednesday with the PAC's Runners to Watch List.
The Gators and first-year head coach Jason Falvo scored four first-place votes and 105 points in the voting to edge out Grove City College, who totaled 101 points and three first-place votes. Allegheny had six finish in the top 20 a season ago and scored 45 points to finish ahead of runner-up Grove City by 19 points and win its second PAC title in three years. The Gators need to replace five all-conference performers from that championship team, but will have junior Shyann Rulander, who earned Honorable Mention All-PAC last season by finishing 20th overall, back among their runners this year.
The field behind Allegheny and Grove City in the preseason poll was tightly packed. Geneva College had four first-place votes and 97 points to finish third, one point in front of Saint Vincent College with 96 points and one first-place tally. The top five was completed by Washington & Jefferson College with 93 points.
Franciscsan University totaled 77 points to come in sixth place and was followed by Waynesburg University in seventh (56), Hiram College in eighth (47), Westminster College in ninth (45), Chatham University in 10th (36), Thiel College (20) and Bethany College (19).
This year's polling included Hiram, who joins the PAC in all sports this year after coming over from the North Coast Athletic Conference. A member of the PAC from 1971-89, this will be the Terriers' first year running in the PAC since the fall of 1988. The Terriers program owns a piece of PAC history, as they won the first PAC women's cross country championship by finishing first in 1984, the initial season the conference sponsored a championship for the sport.
This season's Runners to Watch list includes nine All-PAC runners from last fall, including two First Team All-PAC runners, a pair of Second Team All-PAC performers and five Honorable Mention honorees.
The 2023 PAC Runner of the Year, W&J senior Claire Anderson, nearly repeated as league champion last year before taking second place overall for the third all-conference award in her career. That finish at PAC Championships was just the start to a great run through the postseason for Anderson, who made history by not only becoming the first W&J women's runner to win a Cross Country Regional Championship two weeks later but also the first PAC women's runner to win a regional. Anderson took first at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional and broke the all-time record for the fastest time in the women's 6k at W&J with a time of 21:04.9.
Anderson wasn't finished there, as she added All-American accolades to her resume a week later. She finished NCAA Championships in 23rd place with a time of 21:33.4 to garner the first PAC All-American honor since Emily Rabenold of Grove City finished 14th at the 2014 Championships. Anderson was also the first women's cross country runner from W&J to achieve All-America status since Kristen Galligan was 12th in the nation in 2012.
Also back after earning First Team All-PAC in 2024 is Saint Vincent sophomore Grace Neubert. By taking third place overall, she earned the conference's Newcomer of the Year after being the initial first-year runner to cross the finish line. In addition to being a First Team All-PAC honoree, Neubert also became the second Saint Vincent runner to earn the newcomer award, joining her Bearcat teammate, senior Kristen Prince, who won the honor in 2022.
The Runners to Watch list also includes 21 members of the Fall 2024 PAC Academic Honor Roll, which recognizes student-athletes on varsity sports teams who earned a grade-point average (GPA) of 3.6 or higher on a 4.0 scale during their semester of competition.
The 2025 PAC Championships will be held Saturday, Nov. 1st at Allegheny in Meadville, Pa.. 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 Division III regional championships are scheduled for Saturday, November 15th. 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 Dickinson College in Newville, Pa., while the Division III Great Lakes Championships will be held in Louisville, Kentucky at E.P. Sawyer State Park.
The 2025 Division III Championships are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 22nd and hosted by Converse University and OneSpartanburg, Inc., in Spartanburg, S.C.
| 2025 PAC Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll (Predicted order of finish) |
| School (first-place votes) |
Points |
2024 Conference finishes |
| 1. Allegheny College (4) |
105 |
1st (of 11) at PAC Championships, 45 pts. |
| 2. Grove City College (3) |
101 |
2nd (of 11) at PAC Championships, 64 pts. |
| 3. Geneva College (4) |
97 |
6th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 129 pts. |
| 4. Saint Vincent College (1) |
96 |
3rd (of 11) at PAC Championships, 75 pts. |
| 5. Washington & Jefferson College |
93 |
5th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 124 pts. |
| 6. Franciscan University |
77 |
4th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 84 pts. |
| 7. Waynesburg University |
56 |
7th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 210 pts. |
| 8. Hiram College |
47 |
8th (of 8) at NCAC Championships |
| 9. Westminster College |
45 |
10th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 283 pts. |
| 10. Chatham University |
36 |
8th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 249 pts. |
| 11. Thiel College |
20 |
9th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 274 pts. |
| 12. Bethany College |
19 |
11th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 325 pts. |
2025 PAC Women's Cross Country Runners to Watch
1 = 2024 1st Team All-PAC / 2 = 2nd Team All-PAC / HM = Honorable Mention
| Allegheny College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Samantha Oakes |
Jr. |
Horseheads, N.Y./Horseheads |
| Shyann Rulander (HM) |
Jr. |
Warren, Pa./Warren |
| Sophia Shiroff |
So. |
Denver, Colo./Denver East |
| Bethany College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Mary Tracey |
Jr. |
Clarksburg, W.Va./Liberty |
| Chatham University |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Eliana Borne |
Fr. |
Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills |
| Virginia Malkin |
So. |
Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny |
| Chloe Spotts |
Grad. |
Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic |
| Franciscan University |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Emily Maag |
So. |
Cleona, Pa./Annville Cleona Secondary |
| Francesca Rivers |
So. |
Sauk Centre, Minn./Sauk Centre |
| Mary Worden |
Fr. |
Fort Atkinson, Wis./Fort Atkinson |
| Geneva College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Hailey Carroll |
Sr. |
Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap |
| Audrey McAlister |
So. |
Ellwood City, Pa./Homeschooled |
| Carmen Medvit (HM) |
Sr. |
New Castle, Pa./Shenango |
| Grove City College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Audrey Karwowski |
Sr. |
Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan |
| Julianna Lindberg (HM) |
So. |
Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central |
| Abigail Nelson |
So. |
Cheverly, Md./ |
| Hiram College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Elaine Guyette |
Jr. |
Mantura, Ohio/Crestwood |
| Kylie Moser |
So. |
Norwalk, Ohio/Norwalk |
| MacKenzie Norton |
Fr. |
Artesia, N.M./Artesia |
| McKenzie Riley |
Sr. |
Cleveland, Ohio/St. Joseph Academy |
| Taryn Trem |
So. |
Willowick, Ohio/Eastlake North |
| Saint Vincent College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Miranda Cincotta (2) |
Sr. |
Emmitsburg, Md./St. John's Catholic Prep |
| Cassy Lanza (HM) |
Sr. |
Shermans Dale, Pa./West Perry |
| Lily Murphy |
Sr. |
Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield |
| Grace Neubert (1) |
So. |
Saint Mary's, Pa./Elk County Catholic |
| Thiel College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Brooke Griffith |
Sr. |
Chicora, Pa./Karns City |
| Washington & Jefferson College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Claire Anderson (1) |
Sr. |
Jamestown, Pa./Jamestown |
| Emily Frankovich |
Fr. |
McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry |
| Marie Gilles (2) |
Sr. |
North Ridgeville, Ohio/Lake Ridge Academy |
| Chloe LoCastro |
Sr. |
Venetia, Pa./Peters Township |
| Waynesburg University |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Erin Belveal |
Fr. |
Bay Village, Ohio/Bay |
| Chloe Fields |
Jr. |
Linesville, Pa./Conneaut |
| Taylor Severt |
So. |
Howard, Ohio/East Knox |
| Grace Tanksley (HM) |
Sr. |
Bedford, Ind./Bedford North Lawrence |
| Westminster College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Monica Curtis |
Sr. |
Harborcreek, Pa./Harbor Creek |
| Alexis Lefoer |
So. |
Canfield, Ohio/Canfield |
| Abigail Perrine |
Fr. |
Grove City, Pa./Grove City |
| Callie Reaugh |
Fr. |
Blairsville, Pa./River Valley |