KERNERSVILLE, N.C. -- Point Park men's and women's cross country returns to action on Friday in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Preview, hosted by Winston-Salem State.

LAST TIME OUT

Point Park saw success in its first meet of the season on Sept. 12 at the Kutztown DII/DIII Challenge. The Pioneers' men's team finished first out of four teams, and the women finished second out of five. 

Luke McKenna led the men in the meet, picking up a first-place finish. McKenna finished the 8K in 25:42.1. The Pioneers claimed seventh through ten spots individually as well. Canaan Thomas (26:33.0) finished seventh, Ari Snyder (26:43.0) took eighth, Jorge Estalella (27:00.0) claimed ninth and Elijah Bechdel (27:13.5) finished in 10th place.

Cassondra O'Connor finished in third place for the women with her time of 23:36.7 in the 6K race. Anna Babinyecz (23:54.5) and Ruby Ostrander (24:36.0) both turned in top-10 finishes, placing sixth and 10th respectively. Aubrey Smith took 14th, and Paige McMahon finished 16th as well. 

ON THE COURSE

Point Park will feature 10 runners on both the men's and women's teams. The entries are as follows:

Men

Elijah Bechdel

Chase Bowen

Alex Castaneda

Jorge Estalella

Luke McKenna

Albin Petschauer

Jacob Preston

Ari Snyder

Ethan Syner

Canaan Thomas

Women

Anna Babinyecz

Avery Crook

Hailey Holloway

Paige McMahon

Beth Moody

Kyleigh Nagy

Cassondra O'Connor

Ruby Ostrander

Giulia Pologruto

Aubrey Smith

Zabine von Westernhagen

IRON SHARPENS IRON

The Atlantic Region Preview will see several teams ranked in the top 10 in the USTFCCCA DII Atlantic Region rankings. The Pioneer men sit in fifth place in the Week 1 poll, and the women are in sixth.

For the men, third-ranked Fayetteville State, sixth-ranked East Stroudsburg, eighth-ranked Concord and 10th-ranked Glenville State will all compete at the meet. East Stroudsburg and Fayetteville State, which rank first and seventh, respectively, will compete in the women's race.