Edinboro tops 2021 PSAC Women’s Cross Country Preseason Poll
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. --- Edinboro University was picked as the preseason favorite in the 2021 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Women’s Cross Country Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league’s head coaches, the conference announced Thursday afternoon.
The Fighting Scots are the reigning PSAC Champions after claiming the title back in March. Boro had three-of-five top finishers in the PSAC Championship including Stefanie Parsons, Kimberly Goerss and Anna Alberti. Goerss and Alberti are both set to return for the upcoming year. The Edinboro women are seeking their third consecutive PSAC Title.
Picked to finish second in the PSAC is Seton Hill. The Griffins return a handful of top runners including Sydney Wolf and Izzy Myles. Wolf and Myles were both First-Team All-PSAC honorees. Seton Hill was tied for third in last year’s PSAC Championship.
Lock Haven was picked third in the league after placing second in the PSAC Championships a season ago. The Bald Eagles did lose a pair of their top athletes from a season ago including Laurel Moyer and Cadie Kiser, however they’ll return First-Team All-PSAC honoree Elaina Klinger.
Next in the poll is Slippery Rock. The Rock return a few first-team all-conference athletes from last year including Alexis Firment and Anna Igims. Firment finished sixth at the PSAC meet in March, making her a first-team all-conference honoree. They also added a transfer from WVU in Marianne Abdalah.
Right behind Slippery Rock is Shippensburg who is selected fifth. The Raiders were seventh in the PSAC Championship meet and will return Kyra Gerber who was a first-team all-conference selection. Just behind her was second-team honoree Isabelle Gulgert who is also returning. They also add Lyndsey Payne who was a first-team All-PSAC honoree when she ran at Mansfield in 2019.
Trailing behind Shippensburg is sixth-picked Gannon. The Golden Knights finished tied for third in the 2020-21 Conference championship and will look to improve upon that finish.
Rounding out the selected top 10 is IUP, Bloomsburg, West Chester and Kutztown.
Concluding the poll in the final eight spots were East Stroudsburg, Cal U, Clarion, Millersville, Mansfield, Pitt-Johnstown, Mercyhurst and Shepherd.
The full preseason poll is listed below:
WOMEN
1. Edinboro
2. Seton Hill
3. Lock Haven
4. Slippery Rock
5. Shippensburg
6. Gannon
7. IUP
8. Bloomsburg
9. West Chester
10. Kutztown
11. East Stroudsburg
12. Cal U
13. Clarion
14. Millersville
15. Mansfield
16. Pitt-Johnstown
17. Mercyhurst
18. Shepherd
ABOUT THE PSAC
Headquartered in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference comprised of 18 institutions in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The member institutions are Bloomsburg University, California University of Pennsylvania, Clarion University, East Stroudsburg University, Edinboro University, Gannon University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown University, Lock Haven University, Mansfield University, Mercyhurst University, Millersville University, The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Seton Hill University, Shepherd University, Shippensburg University, Slippery Rock University and West Chester University.