Waynesburg, PA - Like each of the other athletic programs at Geneva College, the cross country teams are not eligible for Presidents′ Athletic Conference post-season honors. However, unlike the other sports, the cross country teams do go head to head with their PAC foes once a year at the PAC championships. On Saturday, the Golden Tornadoes′ men and women hit the course against the best the conference had to offer.
When the dust settled, Geneva′s men and women had matched their best conference finishes in several years. The men′s team finished third matching their best overall finish while the women also came in third overall matching their best finish since 2007.
Nick Edinger finished tenth overall for the men′s team and in doing so was handed PAC coach′s honors for his top 14 finish. Teammate Ryan Thorn finished the race in 17th place with Jon Shope crossing the line 19th overall. The entire men′s team now officially qualified for the NCCAA national meet coming up in two weeks.
In women′s action, Julia Urbanski was handed PAC coach′s honors thanks to her ninth place finish in a time of 24:19. Shannon Rech (21), Alayna Merkle (23) and Sarah Davis (28) each posted top 30 finishes in helping Geneva′s entire women′s team qualify for the NCCAA national meet.
"We didn′t run great times," said head coach Brian Yowler. "We were not about running great times, but the goal was to place and we did that in both the men′s and women′s races. We got both teams qualified for nationals and that was the bottom line. It has been a great season for both teams."
Geneva College is a comprehensive Christian college of the arts, sciences and professional studies. Founded in the tradition of the Reformed Christian faith, Geneva prepares students to serve Christ in all areas of society: work, family and the church. Geneva College′s philosophy of education is based on the Foundational Concepts of Christian Higher Education. Geneva is a founding member of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU).
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