The Lancaster Bible College Men's and Women's Cross Country teams are ready to kick off their 2025 Fall season as they travel across town to Franklin & Marshall today. The teams both rank in the top-3 in the United East Preseason Poll this year, with the Women's team coming in second just behind St. Mary's (Md.) and the Men's team landing in third behind Penn College and St. Mary's (Md.). The program falls under Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Melissa Baughman this year, heading up the Cross Country team for the first season with Silas Eckenroad serving as the head coach as the Chargers look to prepare well for the conference championship meet at the end of the season.

Melissa had this to say about her team heading into the 2025 season, "We are excited to kick off the season at our opener at F&M. We have some solid returners as well as some new additions to the team. The team has worked hard over the summer and through preseason and we look forward to seeing their progress throughout the season."

For the Men's team, key returners include David Helms (Jr.) who earned United East First Team honors last year after a seventh place finish at the conference meet, as well as Jaden Royal (Jr.) and Dustin Frantz (Gr.). The Chargers have two new additions to the team this season as Victor Hanley (Fr.) and John Spackman (So.) join the squad for their first years running with the team.

For the Women's team, the Chargers are returning all three of their All-Conference runners from 2024, including Abby Ames (Jr.) and Seana Dougherty (So.) who each earned First Team honors with top-3 finishes in the conference. Kylee Antrim (So.) earned Third Team honors last season and returns for the Chargers as well as Cadee Cameron (So.) and Rosa Johnson (Jr.). Like the men, the women added two new faces as well with Shawna Donough (Fr.) and Ava Reich (So.) joining the Chargers for their first years in the red and black.

After their first meet today on Friday, August 29 at Franklin & Marshall, the Chargers compete in the United East Conference Preview on Friday, September 12 in Media, Pa. with teams in the conference. They then have three consecutive weekends of competition as they travel to Penn St. Abington on Saturday, September 20, Dickinson on Saturday, September 27, and Lehigh for the Paul Short Invite on Friday, October 3. The Chargers compete at Gettysburg and Lebanon Valley the next two weeks before the season culminates in the United East Championships on Saturday, November 1 at Penn St. Brandywine in Media, Pa.

For more information, visit the schedule pages for both the Men's and Women's teams and follow the Chargers on Instagram at lbcathletics.