PITTSBURGH – The regionally ranked Point Park men's and women's cross country teams will compete at the 2025 Mountain East Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia.

On Saturday, the women's 6k will get things started at 9:30 a.m. The men's 8k is slated for 10:30 a.m.
 
Entering the championship, the Point Park women rank eighth in the USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Rankings, while the men rank 10^th.
 
In Point Park's last outing, the Pioneer women placed fourth at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational. Cassondra O'Connor paced the Pioneers at the meet with a runner-up finish behind Glenville State's Natalie Barr. Aubrey Smith also turned in a top 20 finish for the Pioneers at the event.
 
Smith additionally turned in an impressive 10^th place finish at the West Liberty Invitational back on Sept. 4.
 
Earlier in the season, O'Connor also turned in a third-place finish at the Lock Haven Invitational, a seventh-place finish at the Colonial Invitational, and a first-place finish at the West Liberty Invitational. She was named MEC Runner of the Week back on Sept. 8 and Sept. 15.
 
Freshman Zabine von Westernhagen also had a strong start to the season for the Pioneers, placing fifth at the West Liberty Invitational and 22^nd at the Colonial Invitational.
 
As a team, Point Park has finished Top 10 in every meet this season, headlined by a first-place finish at the West Liberty Invitational and a fourth-place finish at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational.
 
At the 2024 MEC Women's Cross Country Championship, Point Park finished third as a team with O'Connor taking runner-up on the individual leaderboard (22:14.13). O'Connor was the 2024 MEC Runner and Freshman of the Year.
 
On the men's side, Point Park has turned in four Top 10 team finishes this fall, headlined by fourth-place finishes at the West Liberty Invitational and Carnegie Mellon Invitational. The Pioneers also finished seventh at the Colonial Invitational.
 
The Pioneers have been led this fall by sophomore Elijah Bechdel and junior Luke McKenna.
 
Bechdel was first to cross the finish line for the Pioneers at the West Liberty Invitational (12^th place), Lock Haven Invitational (34^th place) and Carnegie Mellon Invitational (13^th place).
 
McKenna was the first Pioneers to cross the finish line at the RMU Colonial Invitational, finishing 43^rd in a deep field of runners from NCAA Division I and Division II. McKenna also finished 18^th at the West Liberty Invitational and 24^th at the CMU Invitational.
 
Sophomore Chase Bowen also turned in a Top 20 finish for the Pioneers at the CMU Invitational.
 
The Pioneer men finished seventh at the 2024 MEC Cross Country Championship, getting a ninth-place individual finish from McKenna. McKenna was named first team All-MEC.