Season Preview: 2022 Men's Cross Country
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College men's cross country team looks to maintain a position atop of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) in 2022. W&J is scheduled to begin its season on September 2 hosting the W&J Invitational.
2021-22 Season Review: The Presidents' season was back to normal for the 2021-22 season. W&J had a five event regular season including the PAC Championship and the NCAA Regionals.
The Washington & Jefferson College men's cross country team started out the season on point at the Muskingum Opener in New Concord, Ohio finishing first out of the three teams that participated.
Aden Dressler (Evans City, Pa. / Butler) was W&J's top finisher as he came in at 4th place with a time of 21:43.1.
The team would continue its progression throughout the season posting two more top five team finishes at the Bethany Invitational and the Muskingum Invitational, respectively.
W&J placed fourth out of the nine teams that participated in the PAC Championships. Dressler led the way placing ninth overall (28:25.79) for the Presidents followed by
Julian Paul placing 18th overall (29:22.15) as they both earned All-PAC honors. W&J closed its season by finishing 15th at NCAA Regionals in mid-November.
"Our men showed a tremendous amount of improvement throughout the 2021-22 school year", says Workman. "As most teams across the country experienced, we had very few people on our roster who had actually raced 8K due to our season being canceled the previous year. We ended up having a really strong season, recording our third highest team finish ever at a Regional Championship, despite being without one of our better runners," stated Workman. "We improved a lot throughout the spring on the track, so we just need to see those times translate to the course this fall."
The W&J men's team compiled a 3.68 cumulative grade point average (GPA) as they were recognized by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for their academic dedication as student athletes. This is now the fourth consecutive time that the men's cross country team has received this award.
Additionally, Dressler collected his first USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete award. Dressler led the Presidents with his 8k course time of 27:57.2. His time placed him in 36th out of the 222-runner field at the NCAA Regional Meet aiding in the Presidents strong fall in 2021.
PAC Preseason Poll: 4th of 11 teams
2022 PAC Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll (Predicted order of finish)
School (first-place votes) Points 2021 Conference finishes
1. Saint Vincent College (6) 103 2nd (of 9) at PAC Championships, 46 pts.
2. Allegheny College (3) 93 2nd (of 9) at NCAC Championships, 71 pts.
3. Franciscan University (1) 91 1st (of 9) at PAC Championships, 16 pts.
4. Washington & Jefferson College (1) 89 4th (of 9) at PAC Championships, 112 pts.
5. Grove City College 79 3rd (of 9) at PAC Championships, 103 pts.
6. Geneva College 63 7th (of 9) at PAC Championships, 197 pts.
7. Waynesburg University 58 5th (of 9) at PAC Championships, 134 pts.
8. Chatham University 40 6th (of 9) at PAC Championships, 188 pts.
9. Westminster College 39 9th (of 9) at PAC Championships, 244 pts.
10. Thiel College 34 8th (of 9) at PAC Championships, 201 pts.
11. Bethany College 26 Individuals only at PAC Championships
PAC Runners To Watch: Paul Collier,
Aden Dressler,
Julian Paul,
Brock Pennington, and
Jake Sinclair
Team Captains: Paul Collier,
Aden Dressler, and
Nick Millison
"Paul and Aden were captains for us last year, and they did a tremendous job of leading that group. They are a large part of why our men were so successful last year, on and off the track. They lead by example, they work hard, they are excellent students, and they are all about the team. Nick demonstrated a lot of these similar characteristics throughout this past school year as well, which is why he was named a captain for this fall."
Returners: The second-year captain
Paul
Collier (Heath, Ohio / Heath) returns for his final season as the Presidents look to head into 2022 looking for continued production. He continued that success into last season, as Collier was a top 10 finisher overall and 2nd for the team as he posted a time of 22:29.3 at the Muskingum Opener to kick off the season in 2021. He placed 88th in the NCAA Regionals and 3rd overall on the team as he earned a time of 29:14.3.
Senior
Aden Dressler (Evans City, Pa./Butler) finished top two for the Presidents' in the first two regular season meets. Dressler clocked in a time of 21:43.1 on the Muskingum Opener 6K course, grabbing 4th place overall (1st on team) in the 30-runner field. At Bethany, Dressler finished 23rd overall and 2nd for W&J with a 8K time of 28:18.0.
Senior
Nick Millison (Salem, Ohio / South Range) and junior
Clay Yeager (Mifflintown, Pa./Juniata) will look to build off of productive 2021 seasons.
"I am blessed with this group of seniors and I am even more excited to watch them lead and challenge this group," said Workman.
Second-year standouts
Brock Pennington (North East, Pa. / North East),
Julian Paul (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Montour), and
Jake Sinclair (Beallsville, Pa. / Beth-Center) look to carry their early success within their collegiate careers into 2022 as they are set to be top contributors to the team again this fall. Pennington finished top three for W&J in the first three meets of 2021 as he finished atop of all Presidents runners at the Bethany Invitational as he posted a time of 28.16.
"I expect them to continue where they left off in the spring", says Workman. "They all trained very hard over the summer, and I expect that will show as we start racing in the next couple of weeks. They were our top three in our preseason time trial the other day, so it's clear they all had great summers. All three of these young men have very high expectations for our team and for themselves individually," stated Workman. "I think everyone is just excited to finally get back to racing again, training with their teammates, etc."
Paul took home his first PAC rookie of the week for the week of Sept. 27 in the 2021 season, as he led the charge at the Lock Haven Invitational, placing 79th in the 289-runner field with a time of 27:00.5. He also collected an All-PAC Honorable Mention (18th Place) for his accomplishments in his freshman season. Sinclair wrapped up his freshman season finishing at least top six on the team in six of his meets for the Presidents this fall. Sinclair played a pivotal role in filling out the top runners for W&J as he was a consistent contributor for a majority of the season aiding the Presidents in a hard fought run at the NCAA Regionals as he placed 95th overall (4th on team).
The Presidents also welcome back juniors
Ian Baughman (Oxford, Pa. / Oxford Area),
Gaurav Singh (Upper Darby, Pa. / Upper Darby), and
Gannon Ziviello (Bedford, Pa. / Bedford); as well as sophomores
Jacob Davis (Burlington, Vt. / South Burlington),
Daniel Deal (Butler, Pa. / Knoch),
Max Donaty (Westborough, Mass. / Westborough), and
Alex Puskaric (North Huntingdon, Pa. / Norwin).
Newcomers: The Presidents welcome a seven-man freshmen class for 2022.
"Adjusting from 5K in high school to 8K in college is not an easy adjustment" said Workman. "Some handle the transition seamlessly, some it takes a little longer for things to start clicking" stated Workman. "I just really emphasize "trusting the process," and focusing on "doing all of the little things right." I'd imagine we have a couple young men who can crack our Top 7 by the end of the season, if not sooner."
Anthony Cestaro III Memphis, Tenn. / Christian Brothers
Patrick Duggan Glenville, Pa. / Logos Academy
Raine Gratzmiller Butler, Pa. / Butler
John Ridilla Pittsburgh, Pa. / Bishop Canevin
Eli Westfort Westborough, Mass. / Westborough
Aaron Wright Mahaffey, Pa. / Purchase Line
Lorenzo Zeni Monongahela, Pa. / Ringgold
Coaching Staff:
Derek Workman enters his fifth season as the men's and women's cross country and track & field head coach. Under Workman's supervision, sophomore Cassie Carr became just the second-ever female to qualify for the NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Championship during the fall of 2021. Carr placed 21st at the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional to earn a spot at nationals where she finished 189th out of the 292 runners. In the fall of 2019, he led the W&J to a runner-up team finish at the PAC Men's Cross Country Championship. All five scoring runners earned All-PAC applause, including PAC Newcomer of the Year
Paul Collier.
Workman also enjoyed tremendous success during his first year guiding the Presidents (2018-19). Workman was named PAC Coach of the Year after guiding the Men's Cross Country team to its first-ever PAC Championship in late October. He oversaw a pair of standout performers during the season, as senior Harley Moyer became the first PAC runner to claim the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship. Moyer would go on to earn All-America honors with a 13th place finish at the NCAA Championship meet.
The Presidents also welcome back intern assistant coach
Marty Vajen as he will be entering his fifth year at W&J. Vajen joined the Presidents following two seasons as the track & field and cross country assistant coach at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio. His responsibilities included the recruitment of student-athletes, meet management, and training. Vajen has been Workman's right hand man the past seasons as they set their sights on more accolades with another talented roster this season.
W&J alum
Faith Remich joins the coaching staff after graduating this past May. Remich returns as a volunteer assistant coach and will be able to help immediately as this roster still holds some of her old teammates.
Looking At The Schedule: The 2022 cross country season will consist of five regular season meets and the annual PAC Championship meet.
The Presidents begin the season on Sept. 2 hosting the W&J Invitational. W&J then heads to the Saint Vincent Invitational (Sept. 9), the Lock Haven Invitational (Sept. 24), the Lehigh - Paul Short Run (Sep. 30), the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble (Oct. 15) before the PAC Championships on Oct. 29. NCAA Regionals will be held on Nov. 12.
Final Word From Workman: "I love our chemistry and the culture we are creating here, it's special. I am one of the luckiest guys in the world, I love what I do, and I love my kids. I love getting to coach them, not only in running, but also in life. I love the challenge of coaching different personalities, learning what individually motivates each athlete and what doesn't, and then helping them / watching them overcome adversity and be better because of it. I always say, "you don't really learn that much about yourself when things are going well, but you learn a lot about yourself when faced with adversity." I have really enjoyed getting to coach this group over the past year or two, and our alumni have been energized hearing about the exciting things that are happening in our program. As far as the PAC is concerned, this is the strongest the conference has ever been in cross country since the 1980s. We have some really talented athletes and coaches in this conference, and that will make for a very exciting season – watching all of the team battles / individual battles unfold."
