PAC Release

TRAFFORD, Pa. -- The Allegheny College won a close race atop the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll, as the Gators were picked as the No. 1 team in the PAC for the upcoming 2023 campaign.

Three teams received multiple first-place votes, but Allegheny led the conference with six first-place votes and 90 total points. Saint Vincent College came in second place with three first-place votes and 85 points, while Geneva College finished with two first-place votes and 84 points. Franciscan University, the 2022 PAC champion, fell all the way to sixth place in the 2023 preseason rankings.

The Gators trailed only Franciscan at the 2022 PAC Championships. Despite finishing as the runner-up, Allegheny was the only team in the conference to place all five scoring runners inside the top 15.

Two of the three Gators highlighted on the PAC Men's Cross Country Runners to Watch list collected All-PAC awards last fall. Senior Peter Lantz (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg) and sophomore Caleb Freeman (Killingworth, Conn./Haddam-Killingworth) were both named to the All-PAC Second Team after finishing 10th and 13th, respectively, in the eight-kilometer race. Also included on the watch list was senior Colm Mulligan (Chestnut Hill, Mass./Brookline).

Allegheny men's cross country opens the 2023 season on Friday, September 1, at Gannon University's Race at the Park.