Ryan and Galligan Finish Second At PAC Championships
New Wilmington, Pa. – Junior Scott Ryan (Williamsville, N.Y./East Williamsville) earned his second-straight, runner-up finish and freshman Kristen Galligan (Frederick, Md./Governor Thomas Johnson) placed second on the women’s side to pace Washington and Jefferson College on Saturday at the 2011 Presidents’ Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships.
The Presidents’ men took fifth place in the nine-team standings, while the women’s squad earned seventh place of 10 teams.
Saint Vincent claimed the men’s team title with 35 points followed by Thiel (70), Grove City (76), Geneva (123), W&J (144), Westminster (160), Waynesburg (177), Bethany (203) and Thomas More (229).
Grove City captured the women’s title for the 25th consecutive year with 38 points. Waynesburg (83) was second, while Westminster (103), Geneva (113), Saint Vincent (120), Bethany (142), W&J (174), Thiel (176) Chatham (232) and Thomas More (242) rounded out the standings.
Kevin Wanchisko (26:37) of Saint Vincent edged Ryan in the 100-runner field by just nine seconds for the individual title. Ryan finished the 8K course in 26:46. He has placed among the top four at the league championship meet in all three collegiate seasons.
Saint Vincent’s Ivette Mejia (22:33) outdistanced Galligan (23:42) by a little over a minute to win the women’s 6K title.
Sophomore Kia Ruhkamp (Laura, Ohio/Milton-Union) placed 11th in the 92-runner women’s field with a time of 25:14, while classmate Atoosha Hashemi (Fullerton, Calif./Sunny Hills) was 60th (28:30).
Sophomore Nicole Montecalvo (Atoosha Hashemi (Fullerton, Calif./Sunny Hills) placed 65th (28:56), while senior Kaitlyn Loy (South Park, Pa./South Park) was one place behind in 66th (29:10).
On the men’s side, junior Benjamin Kopchick (Clarksburg, Pa./Saltsburg) was 30th with a time of 29:13, while freshman Joshua Makepeace (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) turned in a 31st-place showing (29:15). Sophomore Brad Hanne (Conneaut, Ohio/Center) claimed 57th place (30:33) and classmate Ronald Graf (Pittsburgh, Pa./South Park) closed the Presidents’ top five in 58th place (30:49).
