PAC Release

TRAFFORD, Pa. -- The Allegheny College women's cross country team was selected as the preseason favorite in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) for the upcoming 2023 campaign, according to the conference's annual coaches' poll.

Allegheny earned six of 11 possible first-place votes and received 93 total points in the ranking. Last year's runner-up, Geneva College, was picked second with four first-place votes and 90 points. Saint Vincent College (79), Grove City College (78), and Washington and Jefferson College (59) rounded out the top five.

It marks the second consecutive year the Gators have been voted No. 1 in the PAC's preseason poll.

Following a lengthy run as the all-time winningest women's cross country program in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), the Gators cruised to a 42-point victory over second-place Geneva in their first-ever PAC Championship race last fall. Allegheny's five counting runners all placed inside the top 15, and the Gators collected eight All-PAC awards for finishing inside the top 21. Additionally, Ben Mourer '07 was tabbed the PAC Coach of the Year.

All three Gators who were included on the PAC Runners to Watch list are returning All-PAC honorees. Mazzie Standish (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) led all Allegheny student-athletes by placing fourth and collecting All-PAC First Team accolades. Nelly Stafford (Middletown, Md./Middletown), an All-PAC Second Teamer, and Celia Cocca (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora), an honorable mention selection, were also highlighted on the Runners to Watch list.

The Allegheny women's cross country team will hit the trails for the first time this season on Friday, September 1, at Gannon University's Race at the Park at Pleasant Ridge Park in Fairview, Pennsylvania.