Schedule
Roster
WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University women's track and field squad is finishing its preparations for its first weekend of competition this weekend, as the Golden Rams will compete in three meets in two days beginning on Friday at the Historic New York City Armory for the Armory Collegiate Distance Carnival. Most of the Golden Rams will begin their 2025-26 season at Bucknell for the Bison Opener on Friday and Saturday.
"We've had a great fall up to this point," opened Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Colin Leak. "I've been very impressed by how committed and competitive this group has been, even through the long days of workouts leading up to our first meet, so I think we are in a great position for a fun season."
Following its trip to Bucknell, West Chester will make its first trip of the season to Ocean Breeze next Friday night for the Wagner Seahawk Shootout before breaking for the Holiday with the next meet on the schedule coming at Alvernia on Saturday, January 17.
After this, West Chester will head to Lehigh for the Hounds Indoor Classic on January 24 before another split squad weekend on January 30 and 31
st at the Bucknell Multi and Widener Schuylkill Showcase at Penn.
West Chester will open February at the Fast Track Invitational at Ocean Breeze before another split squad weekend at Boston and Penn on February 13 and 14. West Chester will conclude its regular-season indoor slate at the Keogh Invitational on February 20, ahead of the PSAC Indoor Championships on February 28 and March 1.
At the 2025 PSAC Indoor Championships, West Chester finished eighth, led by a Conference Championship in the pole vault from
Annika Hummel (12 feet 1 ½ inches) and 12 points individually from Lily Palacio Lewis as she finished third in the 60 (7.72) and 200 (25.43).
Victoria Gbodi scored a point in her first conference championship appearance with an eighth-place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 37 feet 8 ½ inches, while
Ellie Goldberg (West Deptford, N.J./West Deptford) led West Chester in the mile with a 12
th-place finish in 5:19.33.
Kristina Tapia (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley) narrowly missed a podium finish in the 5k with a time of 18:20.39, while
Emily Donegan (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) and
Kaylie Groff (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra) joined Hummel on the pole vault podium with marks of 10-11 ¾.
Amanda Marquis (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) finished 11
th in the pentathlon with a score of 2,623 points, which included a third-place finish in the 800 in 2:33.82.
Zhayria Washington also scored for West Chester with a seventh-place finish in the weight throw with a mark of 50-4 ½.
"The track team has been working really hard, and we are excited to showcase the work we've been putting in. Bucknell is a great facility and a great first meet to start the year, and this group has really earned it. We have seen some great practices and great intensity out of this group all fall, and we really aren't looking at this first meet as a "rust-buster" but think it could be a strong start to an exciting season," continued Leak.
West Chester's distance squad enters off a strong fall slate, which saw the team place fourth at the PSAC Cross Country Championships and fourth at the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships. Tapia led West Chester at the PSAC Championships with a seventh-place finish in 22:43.40 to earn First Team All-League honors alongside
Jessalyn Welsh (Enola, Pa./East Pennsboro), who finished 15
th in 23:15.30. Goldberg earned All-League honors with a 30
th-place finish in 23:44.90.
At the Regional Championships, Welsh led West Chester with a 15
th-place finish in 21:57.9, followed by Tapia in 21
st in 22:04.50 to earn an All-Region certificate of her own.
"Our cross country teams had a great fall season and are coming into the weekend off Championship season, so they are really at their peak right now. We decided to try and hold on to this peak instead of shutting down and try to really capitalize on our aerobic fitness early in indoor season," explained Leak.
West Chester will need to replace a handful of Conference Champions from a year ago, headlined by Palacio Lewis and Hummel but does return a number of talented student-athletes in every event group, including Tapia, Welsh, Goldberg, Marquis, Groff, Donegan,
Katja Larsen (Spring City, Pa./Owen J. Roberts), Gabrielle Curtis (Harrisburg, Pa./C.D. East), Genevieve McDonald (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown), Ava Mills (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton), Nikolien Bezuidenhout (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley), Morgan Pera (Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh), Kayla Lockburner (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough), and Emma Deyarmin (Leesport, Pa./Schuylkill Valley) to name just a few of the many returners on the 2025-26 roster.
"We definitely graduated some really big pieces last year," acknowledged Leak. "Despite this, we have a ton of talent coming back across the board. Our distance crew is coming off a great fall season, and people like
Genevieve McDonald, Kat Larsen,
Ava Mills,
Morgan Pera,
Nikolien Bezuidenhout,
Emily Donegan,
Emma Deyarmin, and
Kayla Lockburner all come in after strong years last year and have looked really strong early this season. This group has also done a tremendous job with a young team, helping bring their event groups along and setting strong team culture standards, which is always important with a young team. The growth we see out of these student-athletes year-over-year, both in competition and personally, is great to see as a coach and has our entire staff really excited for what this upcoming season could bring for us."
In addition to a standout group of returners, West Chester also welcomes a host of talented newcomers, headlined by 19 first-year student athletes, who will begin their careers as Golden Rams in the coming weeks.
"We brought in a big group of newcomers on the women's side as well," noted Leak. "I think a lot of the individuals in this group are going to have the chance to contribute to us right away, and I think they are poised for some great performances as early as this weekend. It'll be really fun to see how this group develops over the course of the season and over the course of their time as Golden Rams."
As always, fans are encouraged to visit wcupagoldenrams.com and follow West Chester Athletics on social media for all the latest news and notes on the Golden Rams varsity athletic programs.
