KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown women's cross country team is ready to begin a brand new season in 2024 with plenty of experience leading the charge.
 
The Golden Bears feature half of their roster (seven of the 14) upperclassmen. Five of the eight competitors at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship meet in 2023 are back in the lineup, including the two All-PSAC Second Team finishers in senior Erika Moriarty (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) and graduate student Jaelyn D'Amelio (Manahawkin, N.J./Southern Regional). That duo placed 16th and 21st, respectively, out of 171 runners. It was the third straight All-PSAC mark for Moriarty and second of D'Amelio's career.
 
"The women return three previous All PSAC selections in D'Amelio Moriarty and Knerr," said head coach Ray Hoffman. "We have some outstanding depth with Donovan, Young, Lenhart, Dunkleberger and newcomer Olivia Solomon (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy). Both Knerr and D'Amelio will provide great leadership for our program. It's going to be a fun year."
 
Junior Deandra Young (East Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) and redshirt-senior Madeline Barney (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) finished neck-and-neck at PSACs, placing 68th and 69th, respectively, and rounded out the top five in the Maroon and Gold lineup. Sophomore Sage Dunkleberger (Watsontown, Pa./Warrior Run) also competed at PSACs last season for KU, which had a second-place finish in the opening meet and two third-place finishes out of the four regular season meets.
 
Senior Sophia Knerr (Columbia, N.J./North Warren Regional) returns after sitting out last season. Taylor Barnett (Mohnton, Pa./Home School) and Mackey Donovan (Blauvelt, N.Y./Tappan Zee) are two other upperclassmen to lead the way.
 
The Golden Bears were currently ranked eighth in the Atlantic Region in the USTFCCCA preseason regional rankings.
 
Kutztown has four meets during the regular season again this year, including the annual home meet at North Campus Course on Friday, Sept. 13, at 5:45 p.m. KU begins its campaign on Thursday, Sept. 5, at the West Liberty Invitational at 4 p.m. PSAC Championships are set for Saturday, Oct. 26, from North Campus Course.