Women claim PAC title, men finish second
By Sam Fetherlin · Staff Writer
CANFIELD, Ohio — The Grove City College men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championships Saturday.
Both teams matched their PAC preseason poll predictions, with the women winning the event and the men finishing second behind Geneva College, which won its second consecutive PAC championship.
The women raced first, beginning their six-kilometer race at 11 a.m. The Wolverines comfortably claimed first place ahead of Franciscan, as junior Cayla Lawrence finished second overall with a time of 22:51.
“Our goal going into this meet was really just to execute how we have been all season because of how hard we worked to get in a good position going into the race,” Lawrence said. “It was really special to be in a competitive environment where we could get recognized for this work and see it all pay off.”
Junior Rebekah Burger finished one second behind Lawrence in third, while freshman Josie Jones took fourth at 23:14 and junior Julianna Lindberg placed sixth with a time of 23:18. All four earned All-PAC honors.
Junior Abigail Nelson was the fifth Grove City finisher, in 33rd place, securing the women’s PAC title for the Wolverines.
The championship marked Grove City’s first since 2023 and 29th overall, following a 27-year streak from 1989 to 2015. It was the first PAC title under third-year coach Paul Collier, who was named PAC Coach of the Year after the championship.
“I’m really thankful for the team win,” Lawrence said after the race. “It was extremely gratifying to see my teammates perform so well. Cross country is an interesting sport in the sense that we can celebrate individual and team wins at the same time, so everyone can see how their work pays off in their own improvement and how that can contribute to the team’s success.”
The men’s eight-kilometer race began at noon.
Junior Colsen Frank led the Wolverines with a fourth-place performance, crossing the finish line at 26:27. Freshman Isaac Burtt followed in eighth with a time of 26:52.
Frank said he was “thrilled” with the team’s progress this year, adding, “We are super young and coming into the season we weren’t sure how we were going to stand in the conference. To come away as the second-place team with a mostly freshman and sophomore roster is exciting.”
Sophomore Kaiden Williams finished 14th at 27:30. Senior James Yoho (16th) and sophomore Tyler Davis (17th) followed, finishing with times of 27:35 and 27:36, respectively.
Ultimately, these strong showings weren’t enough to beat Geneva, which placed all five of its scoring runners in the top 12. Geneva won with 32 points, while Grove City recorded 59.
“We really can’t be upset about finishing second to Geneva,” Frank said. “They are a very strong team, and we went out there and performed at our best and they had the better day. I think we did everything we could to give it a shot to win, and so we can’t be disappointed with a second-place finish.”
Frank earned First Team All-PAC honors. Burtt and Williams were named to the Second Team, while Yoho, Davis, sophomore Sam Elston and freshman Carson Wilt earned Honorable Mentions.
Frank said the trip to Ohio didn’t faze him or his teammates.
“Overall, we really tried to approach this meet just like it was any other meet,” he said. “We just wanted to go out and run a race that we can be proud of, and I think we did that well today.”
Up next for the men’s and women’s teams are the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Championships Nov. 14. The top runners from regionals will qualify for the NCAA National Championships Nov. 21.
“Our main goal is scoring in the top 10,” Frank said. “This has been one of our main goals this whole season, and it is exciting to see how we compete against some very high-level teams.”
