BETHANY, W.Va. -- Point Park men's and women's cross country will compete in the Mountain East Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships on Saturday at the Bethany College Soccer and Equestrian Complex. The men will compete in an 8K at 9:30 a.m., and the women will run a 6K at 10:30 a.m.

LOCATION (GPS)
Bethany College Soccer & Equestrian Complex
(7229 Bethany Pike, Wellsburg, WV 26070)

STARTING LINE

Both of Point Park's cross country teams are ranked in the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division II Atlantic Region Polls, with the women ranking fourth and the men sitting in fifth place.

Point Park enters off a strong showing at the Go Fast River Run, in which Cassondra O'Connor led the women, finishing the Go Fast River Run in 21:44.2 for an 11th-place finish. Anna Babinyecz finished the 6K race in 17th with her time of 22:00.2, and Paige McMahon (39th), Zabine von Westernhagen (41st) and Aubrey Smith (44th) rounded off the team's top five.

Luke McKenna finished in 23rd place for the men, who placed seventh as a team in the 8K. Chase Bowen (54th) and Ari Snyder (57th) turned in top-60 finishes, while Canaan Thomas and Ethan Syner took 69th and 78th places, respectively.

The Pioneer women finished second among all ranked Atlantic Region teams, finishing higher at the race than Kutztown, Slippery Rock and Bloomsburg. For the men, West Chester was the lone ranked team in the Atlantic Region to finish better than Point Park did. The Pioneers turned in better finishes than Kutztown and Slippery Rock did. 

REIGNING AND DEFENDING

Cassondra O'Connor won the 2025 MEC Women's Cross Country Individual Championship, turning in a time of 22:28.64. O'Connor, who took second place at the meet in 2024, was named first team All-MEC and the league's 2025 Runner of the Year on Saturday. She is now a two-time MEC Runner of the Year. 

Aubrey Smith and Zabine von Westernhagen finished in 22nd (24:44.73) and 28th (24:50.15) place, respectively, in 2025. Point Park's women's team took second as a group.

Point Park's men's team finished in sixth place in 2025. The Pioneers were led in the 8K race by Elijah Bechdel with a time of 27:35.91, en route to a 28th-place finish.  Luke McKenna turned in a time of 27:51.11 to take 31st place. Pedro Lemos and Chase Bowen finished in 36th and 38th, respectively.