GOLDEN EAGLE WOMEN FINISH THIRD AT PSAC’S

EDINORO – Clarion University women’s cross country team finished third at the 12-team PSAC Championship meet Saturday at Edinboro. It is the highest finish ever for the Golden Eagle women’s team surpassing a sixth-place finish in 1997.

Clarion scored 68 points and was 27 point back of meet champion Edinboro (41) and 14 back of second-place IUP (54).

"We ran very, very well," Clarion head coach Pat Mooney said. "It was a very solid race. We were close enough to win, and we get a shot at both of the teams ahead of us next week at the NCAA Division II Regionals (at Davis & Elkins)."

The main reason for the Golden Eagles high finish was the fact that Clarion had four runners earn All-PSAC honors, which go to the top 15 finishers. It is the first time in school history Clarion has had four All-Conference runners in the same year.

"Our depth paid off," Mooney said. "We ran a real solid race. We were right in the thick of it."

The four All-Conference runners for the Golden Eagles were Melissa Terwilliger (6^th place, 23:57.2), Evelyn Abiola (11^th-place, 24.12.1), Jen Boerner (12^th place, 24:16.4) and Bridget Sardo (14^th – 24:20.7).

Katie Jarzab of Oil City finished off the scoring for Clarion finishing in a solid 25^th place (24:56.3).

Even the four runners who didn’t score had good races for the Golden Eagles.

Kate Szafran finished 28^th (25:08.6), Sarah Rodgers was 32^nd (25:16.0), Anna Beck was 45^th (25:38.2) and Gayle Specht was 83^rd (27:07.0)

GOLDEN EAGLE MEN MOVE UP ONE PLACE TO 12^th AT PSAC’S

EDINBORO – Clarion’s University’s men’s team, with three freshmen holding key roles, were able to move up one place from its unofficial seed of 13^th and finish 12^th at the PSAC Championship’s Saturday at Edinboro.

The Golden Eagles finished with 337 points, nine ahead of 13^th-place Mansfield. Edinboro won the meet with 25 points, while Millersville was second with 64.

"We didn’t run bad," head coach Pat Mooney said. "We were able to move up a spot. We would have liked to have been a little higher, but all in all it wasn’t a bad race."

A.J. Mayernik paced Clarion finishing 51^st in 28:51.5. Chris Noal was 67^th (29:40.1), Matt Andreassi was 77^th (29:59.3), Aaron Neely was 90^th (30:45.8), Matt Reinhold was 92^nd (30:50.0) and John Snyder was 96^th (31:25.9). Andreassi, Neely and Reinhold are all freshmen.

Clarion is back in action Saturday at the NCAA Division II Regionals at Davis & Elkins.