President's Athletic Conference releases cross country preseason poll
Aug. 19 - GREENVILLE, Pa. - The Presidents' Athletic Conference announced their annual preseason coaches' poll for cross country. The Bethany men's team was picked to finish seventh while the women's team was listed to finish ninth in the conference.
The men's team were picked to finish in the same spot in which they finished at the 2015 PAC Championships.
Saint Vincent was picked as the odds-on favorite to retain their dominance in the PAC, having won six-consecutive Cross Country titles, receiving 94 points, including six for first-place. Washington and Jefferson was tabbed second with 86 points and four first-place tallies.
Rounding out the top five were Geneva, Grove City, and Waynesburg with 74, 71, and 56 points, respectively.
The conference released a players to watch list with Bethany having three featured. Senior Ryan Donnelly (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Penn Hills), junior Donald Bierhals (Cabot, Pa. / Knoch), and sophomore Jordan Castro (Wahiawa, Hawaii / Leilehua) were all named.
Castro and Donnelly were both named Second Team All-PAC last year after placing ninth and 12th in the PAC Championships last fall.
The women's team finished just three points shy of Thomas More with 30 points in the poll.
Coaches placed Waynebsurg as number one on this year's list with 97 points and seven first-place marks. 2015 PAC champion, Grove City, was picked to finish second with 85 points and two first-place votes while Geneva was selected third with 74 points and a single first-place vote.
Saint Vincent and Westminster rounded out the top five with 65 and 53 points, respectively.
For the leagues players to watch list, two Bethany athletes were mentioned in senior Ashley Worst (Apollo, Pa. / Apollo-Ridge) and incoming freshman Kathrin Lenhart (Heidelberg, Germany).
Bethany begins their season on Sept. 1 at the Muskingum Relays before hosting the Bethany Invitational on Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m.
