WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College men's cross country team will begin a new era when it ushers in a new season Friday, Sept. 1 with the W&J Invitational.
Andy Upton will lead the Presidents after coming over from Bethany College where he spent the last 19 seasons.
Upton discussed the opportunity to join W&J after nearly two decades at Bethany.
"The support and resources that the students had to be successful both academically and athletically was clearly evident on my interview," Upton said. "Those same resources and support also existed within the athletic department and became something that I wanted to become a part of. I am beyond excited to get this season started. The team has been a lot of fun to get to know so far. I've only been with them for a week but there are a lot of great personalities on this team who love to compete and have fun while they are doing it. The potential with this group is limitless."
2022 Season Review: The Presidents' 2022 season remained consistent with the season prior. W&J had a five regular event season in addition to making the PAC Championships and NCAA Regionals.
The Washington & Jefferson College men's cross country team started out the season on an optimistic note at the W&J Invitational here in Washington, finishing first out of five teams that had participated. The meet was the first at home for the program since the 2018 season. W&J finished with 29 points to pace the team standings.
Dressler steered the Presidents as he finished as the runner-up with a time of 17:11.54 in the 5K event.
Brock Pennington (North East, Pa./North East) and
Julian Paul (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) battled each other all the way to the finish line, as the teammates claimed third place (17:22.42) and fourth place (17:22.60), respectively.
The team would keep their healthy pace throughout the season posting two more top five team finishes at the Saint Vincent Invitational and the Lock Haven Invitational, respectively.
W&J proceeded to place 13th of 20 at the Lock Haven Invitational before placing in the top five at the Muskingum Invitational the week following.
The Presidents placed sixth out of nine teams that participated in the PAC Championships.
Julian Paul paced the Presidents with a 17th place finish. Paul posted a time of 27:02.22. Dressler placed in the next spot as his time of 27:05.05 was 18th overall. For their efforts, Paul and Dressler both earned All-PAC Honorable Mention recognition.
The W&J Men's coss country team also excelled off the course, as the group compiled a 3.54 cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) to earn the All-Academic Team Award. Individually, Dressler was named an All-Academic Athlete by the USTFCCCA. This marks the second-straight year that Dressler has received the individual honor.
PAC Preseason Poll:
2023 PAC Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll (Predicted order of finish)
School (first-place votes) Points 2022 Conference finishes
1. Allegheny College (6) 90 2nd (of 10) at PAC Championships, 56 pts.
2. Saint Vincent College (3) 85 4th (of 10) at NCAC Championships, 80 pts.
3. Geneva College (2) 84 3rd (of 10) at PAC Championships, 67 pts.
4. W&J 70 6th (of 10) at PAC Championships, 132 pts.
5. Grove City College 68 5th (of 10) at PAC Championships, 114 pts.
6. Franciscan University 60 1st (of 10) at PAC Championships, 41 pts.
7. Waynesburg University 50 7th (of 10) at PAC Championships, 211 pts.
8. Chatham University 32 9th (of 10) at PAC Championships, 272 pts.
9T. Thiel College 24 8th (of 10) at PAC Championships, 246 pts.
9T. Westminster College 24 10th (of 10) at PAC Championships, 293 pts.
11. Bethany College 18 Individuals only at PAC Championships
PAC Runners to Watch: Washington & Jefferson College
Name Yr. Hometown/High School
Dom Flitcraft Fr. Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell
Raine Gratzmiller So. Butler, Pa./Butler
Julian Paul (HM) Jr. Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour
Brock Pennington Jr. North East, Pa./North East
Jake Sinclair Jr. Beallsville, Pa./Bethlehem-Center
Team Captains: Brock Pennington,
Jake Sinclair
Returners: A trio of juniors,
Brock Pennington,
Julian Paul, and
Jake Sinclair (Beallsville, Pa. / Beth-Center), are expected to be top contributors for the W&J cross country team. Pennington, Paul, and Sinclair consistently finished in the top of W&J runners in 2022. The trio finished 65th, 66th, and 79th consecutively, last fall at NCAA Regionals.
Paul earned PAC Rookie of the Week of Sept. 27 back 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. He gained another All-PAC Honorable Mention last season after placing 17
th at the PAC Championships in 2022.
"They work hard and they care about each other," Upton said of the program. "This is one of the tightest units that I've ever coached. They enjoy being around each other all the time. Before practice, during practice, after practice, across campus---it has been fun to watch so far."
The Presidents also welcome back junior
Daniel Deal (Butler, Pa./Knoch) as well as sophomores
Lorenzo Zeni(Monongahela, Pa. /Ringgold),
Eli Westfort (Westborough, Mass. Westborough),
John Ridilla (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Bishop Canevin), and
Raine Gratzmiller (Butler, Pa. / Butler).
"This a tight knit unit that loves to compete as well," Upton said. The few practices that we have had have been very entertaining to watch. As everybody gets healthy and remains healthy, I expect the practices during the week to be just as competitive as the meets on the weekend. They are aware of their potential and I'm excited to see where it leads this season!"
Newcomers: The Presidents have five freshmen joining the ranks for the 2023 season.
Dominic Flitcraft Aliquippa, Pa. / Hopewell
Collin Helmick Salem, Ohio / Salem
Ramaniah Karamcheti Washington, Pa. / Washington
Austin Stuchul Pittsburgh, Pa. / Penn Hills
Shaun Walker Washington, Pa. / Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter
Coaching Staff: Head Coach
Andy Upton (West Virginia Tech '97) joins W&J for his first season. Upton brings a wealth of coaching experiences to the position. He comes over to W&J from Presidents' Athletic Conference member Bethany College, where he served as head track & field coach for the past 19 seasons. Upton led the Cross Country program at Bethany last fall after serving as an assistant football coach for the Bison for the better part of two decades.
He is a three-time PAC Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year. Upton twice led the Bison men's track & field team to PAC indoor championships. Bethany earned back-to-back conference indoor crowns in 2015 and 2016.
Upton has coached six All-Americans, 11 NCAA qualifiers, seven PAC Most Valuable Performers and one ECAC Most Valuable Performer. During his tenure, Bethany has produced 60 individual PAC champions, 178 All-PAC performers and 87 ECAC qualifiers. A total of 55 school records have been broken under Upton's guidance.
Paul Collier, a recent graduate of Washington & Jefferson College, joins his alma mater as Intern Assistant Coach for the Cross Country and Track & Field programs.
Looking At The Schedule: The 2023 cross country season will consist of six regular season meets and the annual PAC Championship meet.
After Friday's opening W&J Invitational, the Presidents will then travel to the Bethany Invitational (Sept. 9), the Dickinson Long-Short Run (Sept. 23), the Thiel College Rumble (Sept. 29), the CMU Invitational (Oct. 7), and the Geneseo Invitational (Oct.14) before the PAC Championships on Oct. 28. The NCAA Regionals will be held on November 11.
Final Word From Upton: "I'm looking forward to the journey with this group this year. We have some outstanding upperclassmen both from a talent standpoint and from a personal standpoint and we have surrounded them with a great group of freshmen who will make this a very exciting season to be a part of."
