November 1, 2014
Wolverine men second at PAC Championships
WHEELING, W.Va. -- The Grove City College men's cross country team placed three runners in the top seven to give defending champion Saint Vincent its biggest challenge since joining the conference but the Wolverines came up just short, compiling 40 points to finish second out of nine teams at the 2014 Presidents' Athletic Conference Championships, hosted by Bethany College.
The Bearcats won the meet with 31 points to defeat the Wolverines by nine points, marking the closest margin of victory at the conference championships since Grove City edged Saint Vincent 29 to 37 at the 2009 championships.
Sophomore Daniel Christiansen (Frederick, Md./Frederick) finished second individually to earn All-PAC First Team honors and lead Grove City, finishing the eight-kilometer course in 26 minutes, 42.7 seconds, while senior Peter Christiansen (Frederick, Md./Broadfording Christian) finished fifth (27:02.3) and freshman Nick McClure (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) seventh (27:23.2) to give the Wolverines three First Team honorees.
Freshman Drew Thibault (Durham, N.H./Oyster River) earned a place on the All-PAC Second Team by taking 12th in 27:59.2 while sophomore Gabe Imhof (Strasburg, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) received Honorable Mention by finishing 15th in 28:20.0. Freshman Bryce Nelson (Avonmore, Pa./Kiski Area) finished 19th in 28:27.3 and sophomore Devon Powley was 21st in 28:31.8 as both men joined Imhof in earning Honorable Mention status.
Six additional Grove City runners finished among the top-half of the 99-runner field: sophomore Brandon Wise (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) was 24th, sophomore Andrew Mascio (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) 29th, Freshman Zach Monit (Beaver, Pa./Beaver) 35th, senior Nathan Snyder (Birdsboro, Pa./Daniel Boone) 41st, freshman Travis Mattson (Dallas, Pa./Dallas) 43rd and junior Joshua Dunsworth (Erie, Pa./College Academy) 49th.
Saint Vincent's Brandan Moretton won the men's individual title with a time of 26:40.4, edging Christiansen by just over two seconds.
Grove City returns to action on Friday evening when they run in the College of Wooster Twilight 5K.