Gannon University’s men’s and women’s cross country teams will head into Friday’s Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships on a high note after successful outings at the Bill Lennox Invite on Oct. 9.

The Knight men finished third in the 8K event, hosted by Slippery Rock University at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds, while the Gannon women wound up second in their 6K meet.

The Gannon men finished behind first-place Youngstown State and second-place Slippery Rock. Eight teams competed overall.

Four Knight runners finished among the top 15.

Junior Caleb Mandel was Gannon’s top runner as he finished in ninth place with a time of 27 minutes, 5 seconds.

Mandel was complemented by senior Jacob Lehotsky, who finished with the same time of 27:05 and wound up 10th. Junior Jonathan Uhl placed 13th with a time of 27:11.

The last of the Knights to finish in the top 15 was sophomore Ely Personius, who finished 15th with a time of 27:27.

Other Gannon runners were freshman Gavyn Hansotte, who wound up 24th with a time of 28:19; junior Alex Chelton (32nd, 29:18) and junior Jeremiah Vezza (33rd, 29:20).

The Knight women trailed only Slippery Rock in their race and had three finishers among the top 15. All seven Gannon runners placed among the top 30. A total of eight schools and 76 runners competed.

Senior Meredith Morse was the Knights’ top finisher, as she came in third overall with a time of 23:11.

Junior Caitlin O’Rourke was Gannon’s second-best runner, finishing sixth overall with a time of 23:38.

Senior Lauryn Thompson rounded out the top 15 with a 15th-place finish in 24:37.

Other Gannon finishers were senior Sarah Fiorello, who placed 17th with a time of 24:46; senior Victoria Panian (24th, 25:16), freshman Elissa Scheel (25th, 25:21) and junior Claire Livingston (30th, 25:57).

Kutztown will host Friday’s PSAC Championships. Competition will get under way at 11 a.m. Edinboro is the defending 2020-21 men’s champion; the Knight men finished fifth among 12 schools. Mandel was Gannon’s top finisher, as he came in 25th with a time of 16:08.

Gannon’s women’s team finished fourth in last year’s PSAC Championships. Alena Wisniewski and Emma Steele led the Knights’ contingent by finishing 12th and 13th, respectively, with times of 19:19 and 19:20.

TIM CORSO

[email protected]