By Christopher Shaw · Staff Writer
LOCK HAVEN — The Wolverine cross country teams traveled east on Saturday to compete at the Lock Haven Invitational.
“The course was a fun one to race, probably the fastest one we will run all year,” freshman Isaac Esh said. “It was very flat with a nice mixture of cornfields, wooded areas and wide-open segments. With the cool weather, it was almost perfect running conditions.”
A mix of Division II, Division III and fellow PAC teams from across the state attended the race. The Grove City men placed 10th as a team, ahead of Washington & Jefferson and St. Vincent. Sophomore Colsen Frank led the Wolverines, finishing 16th overall with an eight-kilometer time of 25:24. That mark was the third fastest in school history.
Sophomores Kaiden Williams and Sam Elston, along with freshman Carson Wilt and Esh, rounded out the scoring five, all going sub-27. Williams and Wilt also posted top-25 all-time runs. Additionally, Grove City took second as a team in the JV race, with sophomore Tyler Davis and freshmen Carter Williams, Ben Tan, Colin Vickery and Asher Stevens placing in the top 30.
The Wolverine women placed fourth overall as a team and first among Division III squads. Ten of 12 returning runners set a personal record. Senior Cayla Lawrence placed eighth with a top-10 six-kilometer time in Grove City history (21:55). Freshman Josie Jones finished 10th, running a 22:09. Juniors Rebekah Burger and Julianna Lindberg, along with sophomore Erika Doolittle, finished off the scoring five. Jones, Burger and Lindberg also ran top-25 times in Wolverine history.
This meet was crucial practice for the team as the Mid-Atlantic Regional meet — the qualifiers for nationals — will be held on the same course Nov. 14.
Between the Lock Haven Invite and the Westminster 5K Invite held Sept. 4, a lot can be concluded about the strength of PAC competition this year. Across the two meets, the Wolverine men have already beaten Thiel, Westminster, Hiram, Waynesburg, W&J and St. Vincent.
Grove City, runners-up to 2025 PAC champion Geneva, fell to Golden Tornadoes once again in the 5K season opener. They will rematch at Oberlin on Oct. 17 — both teams’ final meet before PACs.
“We are mainly focusing on using our depth as a key advantage. If our 2-7 runners can move up and compete with Geneva’s 3 and 4 runners, we should be in a good position,” Frank said. “This should work out well if we continue to remain consistent in our training and gaining moment(um) in our races throughout the season.”
On the women’s side, Grove City placed sixth in the 2025 PAC championships. However, the result was without Lawrence, who was studying abroad, and the freshman standout Jones.
“Adding races to my season helps to give me goals throughout my training, which can be very motivating as opposed to last year, when I was doing workouts without the competitions,” Lawrence said.
The Wolverines have already beaten Geneva, Waynesburg, Hiram, Westminster, Thiel, St. Vincent and W&J. In 2025, W&J and Geneva tied for first. However, both teams depended on senior talent. The top three W&J runners graduated, as did Geneva’s top two.
It is early in the season, and Grove City has not faced the 2025 third-place Franciscan squad, but with Wolverine improvement, Grove City has a good chance for a title run.
A unique quality of Grove City College cross country is the number of Grove City High School runners on the team. Frank, Jones, Sarah Sabella, Alayna Bishop, Alexis Bishop and Lily Lawson all trained and raced together in high school.
“It’s been a lot of fun training with old teammates again,” Jones said. “It was definingly super helpful coming into the season with some familiar faces. It’s also been such a blessing to get to know these new teammates and grow and learn with them how to serve God through our sport.”
Alexis Bishop added, “It’s been so encouraging to run with old teammates and get to go a step further in our relationships because now we are all running for the same reason: to bring Christ glory.”
