WHEELING, W.Va. – Point Park had three all-conference individual performers and finished third as a team on Saturday morning at the 2024 Mountain East Conference Cross Country Championships, which were run at Oglebay Resort on the Crispin Golf Course.
Following the race, Point Park's
Cassondra O'Connor was voted the 2024 MEC Runner and Freshman of the Year. The MEC major awards are presented following a vote of the league's head coaches. O'Connor is the first-ever MEC Athlete of the Year and Freshman of the Year in any sport at Point Park.
Davis & Elkins had three top 10 finishers and won the 2024 MEC Women's Cross Country Championship, followed by the University of Charleston in second place. The Senators finished the race with 41 points, followed by Charleston and Point Park with 82 and 94 points, respectively.
O'Connor finished second in the championship race with a time of 22:14.13. She finished second behind individual champion Lauren Twyman of Davis & Elkins with a time of 21:59.90. West Virginia Wesleyan's Leigha Hall (22:20.41), Fairmont State's Carlina Jacquez (22:35.05), and D&E's Lydia Falkenstein (22:38.95) rounded out the top five in the individual results.
With her top 10 finish, O'Connor earned first team All-MEC accolades for the 2024 season.
The Pioneers also had a pair of second team All-MEC performers in
Allison Plassio and
Jana Schmid. Plassio turned in a time of 23:21.30 to finish in 12
th place, while Schmid placed 17
th with a time of 23:33.35.
Lotte Zethof (24:18.50) was the fourth Pioneers to cross the finish line in 27
th place, while
Beth Moody placed 38
th with a time of 25:12.97.
The Point Park women's cross country team will wrap up the 2024 season on Saturday, Nov. 9 at the Saint Francis Red Flash Rally in Loretto, Pa. The event will be held at the B&D Acres Cross Country Course.
