IUP Women Place Fourth, Men Fifth at PSAC Meet; Jorge Medina, Mindy Sawtelle Finish in Top Three

Complete Women's Results
Complete Men's Results

The IUP women’s cross country team finished fourth while the men placed fifth at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Meet at Coopers Run Lake in Slippery Rock.

The IUP women, ranked second in the East Region and 12^th in Division II in the country, finished with 113 points.  Edinboro won its eighth straight conference title with 34 points, followed by Bloomsburg (97), Kutztown (100) and IUP.

Lock Haven won its third straight men’s team title with 63 points.  Edinboro was second (60), with Shippensburg (110), Slippery Rock (113) and IUP (142) rounding out the top five.

Jorge Medina led three IUP runners that earned All-PSAC honors on the strength of top 15 placements.  Medina was second in the men’s 8K race with a time of 25:09 while Eric Kruttschnitt was 15^th in 26:07.  Slippery Rock’s Jeff Weiss won in 24:54.

Mindy Sawtelle was the lone IUP woman to merit a spot on the all-conference team.  She placed third, covering the 6K distance in a time of 22:07.  Sawtelle won the PSAC title in 2003 and was also third a year ago.

Following Medina and Kruttschnitt for the IUP men were Matt Gaudet (39^th, 27:04), Adam Shinsky (42^nd, 27:12), Bryan Bellinger (44^th, 27:13), Nick Hornick (48^th, 27:25) and Chad Phares (61^st, 27:52).

Nicole Blaesser, IUP’s No. 2 women’s runner, missed out for all-conference accolades by two spots, finishing 17^th in 23:21.  Also competing were Katie Farnsworth (22^nd, 23:24), Charlene Wirfel (35^th, 23:55), Erica Hoffman (36^th, 23:57), Stacie Stockard (56^th, 24:46) and Meaghan Strong (57^th, 24:47).

Both IUP teams will compete in the NCAA East Region Meet next Saturday at Lock Haven.  The top three men’s and women’s squads advance to the Division II Meet on November 19 in Pomona, Calif.