COATESVILLE, Pa. (Sept. 26, 2026) - A lot of things were the same, but slightly different for Georgian Court Cross Country Saturday morning. Starting the race, the West Chester Purple and Gold Open, a race they competed at last year. So the same, but this year at a different course. Things were also different from the get-go as the Nor' Easter hammering New Jersey put the meet in question and made travel difficult. Then there was the fact that there were three new faces added to the women's team for this meet.

The women ran first as they competed on the 4K course. The rain held off for the women's race, but the wind was certainly a factor. Freshman Dori O'Halloran led the Lions for the third straight meet as she ran 16:36.8, which was six seconds faster than the 4K time she ran to start the season. O'Halloran and Nora Sprunger were the only Lions to race Saturday who had done so earlier this season. Sprunger finished 15th running 18:23.0, which is also an improvement from earlier in the year.

The other five races for the GCU women were the newcomers. Nena Menard just missed out on a top-10 finish placing 11th and running 17:23.8 in her first collegiate race. Jill Konschack placed two spots behind Sprunger in 17th and ran 18:36.3. Samantha Seaman rounded out the field for the Lions in 19th place running 19:25.4. Also in her first collegiate race, Seaman had the misfortune of being by herself, running more than a minute ahead of the finisher behind her, but was 44 seconds behind the finisher in front of her. 

Georgian Court, took third place in the six-team field in the 4K scoring 65 points. West Chester won the meet with 23 points. They had a the top-two finishers with Maddie Taylor winning the race in 15:46.8.

The Lions also finished in third place on the men's side with 72 points in the 8K race. It was the Lions first 8K race of the season. While the rain held off for the women's race, it finally made its presence felt midway through the men's. 

Ryan Pettrow made it 3-for-3 this season in top-10 finishes as he placed sixth in 28:24.2. Also in the top-10 was Richard Riopel. The freshman ran his first-ever 8K collegiate race in 29:16.1 for 10th place overall. 

Placing back-to-back in 22nd and 23rd place were Zachary Spoonire and Luke McCormick. Spoonire ran 30:54.4 and McCormick was one spot back finishing in 31:05.8. 

Colin Broadbelt was Georgian Court's final scorer. He finished in 27th place running 31:42.0. Stephen Lane completed the field for the Lions in 32nd place with a time of 32:50.6.

The four-team race saw the Penn State Club XC take the win scoring 33 points. They had the top-three finishers led by individual champion Austin Strickler who ran 27:16.1.

Georgian Court will take another week off next weekend to enjoy the GCU Homecoming festivities. They race again Saturday, October 10 at the 22nd Annual NJIT XC Invitational.