Point Park opened the 2025 cross country season with the women’s team taking first place and the men’s team finishing fourth at the West Liberty Invitational on Thursday evening at the Bethany College Cross Country Course.
Senior Cassondra O’Connor led the women’s team, winning the race for the second straight year. O’Connor crossed the finish line in 18 minutes and 3.8 seconds – 15 seconds ahead of Washington & Jefferson’s Claire Anderson.
Point Park had five runners place in the top 15 to secure the team title with 43 points. Freshman Zabine von Westernhagen finished fifth in her college debut with a time of 19:05.2. Aubrey Smith placed 10th (19:31.5), Alana Dyce-Giraud was 12th (19:36.5) and Anna Babinyecz finished 15th (19:43.9).
“I genuinely loved each day of it,” von Westernhagen said. “For me, it was about keeping the mileage I’ve been doing over the summer and finding consistency and confidence with the workouts. From a team perspective, the energy was amazing.”
She added that the win gives the group confidence moving forward.
“I am very proud of the result, both individually and as a team,” von Westernhagen said. “For the team to win overall in the first meet was huge, as we proved to those racing against us that we are fast, dangerous and not to be underestimated.”
The men’s team placed fourth with 97 points, finishing behind Charleston, West Liberty and Glenville State. Charleston’s Harry Witt won the individual title in 18:54.1.
Elijah Bechdel led Point Park with a 12th-place finish with a time of 19:32.3. Luke McKenna took 17th (19:40.3), Jacob Preston was 21st (19:55.7), Pedro Lemos finished 23rd (20:01.6) and Chase Bowen was 24th (20:05.2). Bowen, a sophomore, ran despite a recent knee injury.
“I was pretty happy with how the team did,” Bowen said. “This new team we have is young, and we brought in a transfer and a great group of freshmen guys. This is definitely the best team we’ve had in a long time, if not ever.”
He said the team’s focus will be on steady progress through the season.
“Every day we make sure we hold each other accountable,” Bowen said. “We’re going to take it one race at a time and rise more and more as we get closer to conferences.”
Point Park returns to competition next Friday at the RMU Colonial Invitational in Clinton, Pa. The men’s race begins at 8:30 a.m., followed by the women’s race at 9:10 a.m.
