This past Saturday, the Waynesburg University men’s cross country team competed on its home course for the first time since 2014.

The Waynesburg Invitational, which was a preview race for the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championships that Waynesburg is also hosting, brought in 10 teams, including seven PAC teams.

The Yellow Jackets finished fourth overall out of the ten teams, putting up a score of 89. Despite the wet conditions of the course, the Jackets had four athletes finish in the top 20.

Of those four athletes, sophomores Mac Colomb and Matt Durgin were Waynesburg’s fastest in the race, finishing in 12th and 15th place respectively. They were followed up by two more sophomores in Jordan Payne and Nate Jecelin.
Head coach Chris Hardie believed from the beginning that Colomb would come around this season, as he had a stellar freshman campaign.

“He is talented, so we knew to come in what he was going to be able to do,” said Hardie. “He did elevate his game—he has begun training to train effectively to race faster.”

Durgin said that he and Colomb seem to work well together on the team, and he was happy to see his success on Saturday despite the constant competition the two have between one another.

“I get along with him well—I think he went out fast in the race on Saturday,” said Durgin. “I should have stayed with him. We battle back and forth on the team, and the competition helps us place well.”

Durgin and Colomb are two individuals who push each other not only at events, but in practice as they run together in their pack run. Durgin finds this beneficial for each other and the team.

“It helps that we are both at the same talent level, so we can run faster and run better quality workouts,” said Durgin.

Three of the PAC teams in competition Saturday placed ahead of Waynesburg in the invitational. Washington & Jefferson led the pack, finishing first with a score of 33, followed by Geneva with a score of 70. Grove City scored 80, and Waynesburg trailed closely behind with a score of 89 to take fourth place.

The other PAC teams that placed included Chatham (142) in fifth and Thiel (252) in ninth. Bethany did not compete for a team score, instead only sending three individuals to compete in the outing.

The Yellow Jackets continue to push towards their season goal of finishing fourth overall at the PAC Championship, according to Hardie, as they make strides with each race they compete in.

This weekend, the Jackets head to Center Valley, Pennsylvania Saturday, Oct. 6 to compete at the DeSales Invitational, which will serve as a preview at the regional level for the championship season.

Waynesburg has a little over a month to prepare for championship season, which will kick off with the PAC Championships at the Greene County Airport Oct. 27.