Scoreboard

Matt Durisko

Women's Cross Country 10/25/2025 3:40:00 PM Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Bowers Crowned PSAC Champion!

Sophomore first Golden Knight female to win conference title

EDINBORO, Pa. – Gannon women's cross country head coach Rob Ahrens expected Emily Bowers (Silver Creek, N.Y./Silver Creek) to perform well in Saturday's PSAC Cross Country Championships. But Bowers exceeded Ahrens expectations, in the process becoming Gannon's first PSAC individual champion.

Debuting in the team's new gold uniforms, Bowers basically led from start to finish to win by almost six seconds over Bloomsburg's Olivia Magagna. The sophomore posted a time of 22:17.00 over the 6K layout at the Doug Watts Cross Country Course while Magagna finished at 22:22.60.

"I kind of knew going in she would do well and was looking at a finish in the top five," related an excited Ahrens afterwards. "She looked really good after the first loop. Really patient, really relaxed. Going up the hill she opened it up to a five-second gap and held everybody off to the finish. We're super, super excited. Really pumped. She's such a great leader."

BOWERS NOW TWO-TIME ALL-PSAC PERFORMER
As a freshman Bowers earned second team All-PSAC honors after placing 18th. She is now a two-time All-PSAC honoree, just the fourth Gannon female runner to earn multiple All-PSAC honors. The previous best finish in the PSAC Championships was by Gabby Kennelley in 2015, with Kennelley finishing as the runnerup.

GANNON FINISHES NINTH
The Golden Knights ended in ninth place out of 16 teams in the team competition. That's two spots higher than last year's 11th-place showing. East Stroudsburg was awarded first place with 77 points while Edinboro was second, also with 77 points. Bloomsburg came in third (103 points). The Golden Knights finished with 232 points.

THREE GOLDEN KNIGHTS IN TOP 40
Ahrens entered ten runners in the PSAC Championships. In addition to Bowers two other Golden Knights cracked the top 40. Alexis Abbett (Aspinwall, Pa./Aquinas Academy), like Bowers a sophomore came in 37th with a time of 23:56.70 while junior Megan Ickes (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) was 39th at 23:58.70. Abbett jumped over 100 places from a year ago when she crossed the finish line in 138th place.

UP NEXT
The Gannon harriers are scheduled to compete in the Go Fast River Run hosted by Lock Haven on Saturday, November 1. The race will give the competing teams a chance to run the same course that will host the Atlantic Region Championships the following Saturday at Lock Haven. That will serve as the qualifier for the NCAA Division II National Championships on Saturday, November 22.

PSAC CHAMPIONSHIP
Top 5 Teams (16 teams)
1. East Stroudsburg – 77 points
2. Edinboro – 77 points
3. Bloomsburg – 103 points
4. West Chester – 129 points
5. Kutztown – 134 points
9. GANNON – 232 points

Top 5 Individuals (157 runners)
1. Emily Bowers (Silver Creek, N.Y./Silver Creek), Gannon – 22:17.0
2. Olivia Magagna, Bloomsburg – 22:22.6
3. Rosalyn Perozzi, California (Pa.) – 22:23.7
4. Payton Falkenstein, ESU – 22:41.0
5. Eliza Miller, Edinboro – 22:42.3

Gannon Women's Runners
1. Emily Bowers (Silver Creek, N.Y./Silver Creek) – 22:17.0
37. Alexis Abbett (Aspinwall, Pa./Aquinas Academy) – 23:56.7
39. Megan Ickes (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) – 23:58.7
89. Julia Jackson (Rochester, NY/Webster Thomas) – 25:17.5
91. Anna Rakvic (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) – 25:22.9
93. McKayla McLister – 25:26.6
122. Jessica McCracken (Limestone, Pa./Clarion-Limestone Area) – 26:38.7
125. Brooke Wissinger (Fombell, Pa./Riverside) – 26:48.8
133. Taylor Friello (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) – 26:59.3
141. Doris Taucher (Akron, Ohio/Chardon) – 27:54.4

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