RESULTS

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. -- Senior Dootleen Joseph (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby) finished 23rd at Saturday's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships for her second all-conference second team honor in as many seasons and the Kutztown University women placed 12th as a team to conclude their shortened non-traditional season.

Much like she did two weeks ago in KU's tune-up race at the Shippensburg Invitational, Joseph went out strong and held a spot in the top 20 midway through the 5,000-meter race, which was contested on Lock Haven's West Branch Cross Country Course. Running like a true veteran, Joseph maintained a level pace and wound up 23rd in a time of 19:35.6 for her best-ever finish at the conference meet.

Joseph, from Upper Darby, improved upon last year's 25th-place finish at Bloomsburg by two spots.

Kutztown was to have hosted the meet in the fall of 2020, before it was postponed due to COVID-19. Saturday marked the first PSAC Cross Country Championships ever held in the spring. Along with a new date and location, the race was also shortened from its traditional 6,000-meter length and spectators were unable to attend due to ongoing health and safety protocols surrounding the virus.

While the competition was fierce as always, it was a very different championship meet, given that most schools only had one or two meets to get ready and outdoor track season is right around the corner.

Freshman Jaelyn D'Amelio (Manahawkin, N.J./Southern Regional) was impressive in her first PSAC Championships, registering a 36th-place run (19:59.1), second-best among the Golden Bears.

Sophomore Mya Ostermiller (Red Bank, N.J./Middletown South) was 62nd in 20:41.9, senior Katie Duguid (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) took 75th in 21:03.6 and junior Lynne O'Connor (Southampton, Pa./William Tennent) pushed through for an 86th-place finish in 21:17.7 to complete Kutztown's scoring.

Also representing the Maroon and Gold were Sarah Shannon (Clifton, N.J./Passaic County Technical) (23:12.6), Lindsay Smyth (Landenberg, Pa./Avon Grove) (23:17.0) and Julianna Elsesser (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) (23:27.1).

Edinboro won its PSAC record 20th conference title by 25 points over host Lock Haven. The Fighting Scots totaled 58 points behind three runners in the top five, including repeat individual champion Stefanie Parsons (17:31.8). Teammates Kimberly Goerss and Anna Alberti were third (18:24.0) and fourth (18:35.0).

The Bald Eagles took the remaining spots in the top five with Laurel Moyer second (17:55.5) and Cadie Kiser fifth (18:48.1).

Seton Hill took third in a tiebreaker with Gannon and Slippery Rock rounded out the top five. IUP, Shippensburg, East Stroudsburg, Bloomsburg and Cal U garnered spots 6-10.

Kutztown, which finished with 275 points, had its run of eight straight top 10 team finishes at PSACs since 2011 come to a close.