YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The women's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Indoor Championships could not have come down to a closer finish, with the final 4x400-meter relay event determining the winner, and the Golden Tornadoes were edged out at the wire by Grove City and placed second.  The second-place finish is the best performance for the women since joining the PAC ten years ago.

Throughout the meet the lead at the PAC Championships changed hands multiple times between Geneva, Grove City and Washington & Jefferson, three evenly matched teams.  The Golden Tornadoes edged ahead of Grove City by .5 points heading into the 4x400-meter relay, leaving the winner of the relay to get all the glory, and unfortunately Geneva came up one second short.

Despite the heartbreaking finish, the women had several standout performances.  Senior Olivia Younger (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) again won the 60-meter hurdles, finishing 9.18 seconds.  It's the third straight year Younger has won the event, only missing out last season when the indoor season was canceled due to COVID.  Younger also placed third in the 60-meter and the 200-meter races with times of 8.25 seconds and 27.16 seconds, respectively, and she ran on the 4x400-meter relay that finished second.  That relay team, despite finishing narrowly second, broke the school record in a time of 4:12.96.  For her efforts Younger was named both the women's Most Outstanding Track Performer and the Most Valuable Performer overall on the women's side.

Senior Katryn Gatchell (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion) also had a big day, winning the 800-meter race in a time of 2:23.89.  She also placed fifth in the mile with a time of 5:30.60, while also running on the 4x400-meter relay that placed second and the Distance Medley Relay team that finished third.

Geneva had several other strong finishers in the sprints and jumps.  Junior Naomi Swartzbaugh (Spartansburg, Pa./Spartansburg) placed second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.51 seconds, while she also finished fifth in the long jump with a distance of 4.87 meters.

Sophomore Anne Holdeman (Bloomington, Ind./Lighthouse Christian Academy) placed third in the long jump (4.99 meters), fourth in the 400-meters (1:03.25), seventh in the 60-meters (8.76 seconds), while also running on the 4x400-meter relay team that placed second.

Senior Brooke Waters (New Castle, Pa./Shenango) placed fourth in the 60-meters (8.36 seconds), sixth in the 200-meters (28.13 seconds), sixth in the 400-meters (1:04.01), while also running on the Distance Medley Relay team that placed third.

In the distance events, senior Jessie Taylor (Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) placed third in the 5000-meter race (19:33.43), fourth in the 3000-meter race (10:59.62) and seventh in the mile (5:34.97).  Sophomore Jaci Mennetti (Coolspring, Pa./Dubois Area Catholic) placed sixth in the both the 3000-meters (11:19.91) and 5000-meters (19:50.21).

Other scorers for Geneva were freshmen Madison Castro (Colorado Springs, Colo./Evangelical Christian Academy) in the 800-meters and Kendall Shaporka (Grindstone, Pa./Frazier) in the 200-meter race, and juniors Elissa O'Connor (Darlington, Pa./Blackhawk) and Jillian Skal (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) in the triple jump.

The Geneva men's and women's teams will begin their outdoor season in two weeks when the Golden Tornadoes travel to Coastal Carolina over Spring Break to participate in a meet beginning Friday, March 11.

Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 145 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. Geneva has one of the top 100 undergraduate engineering programs in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God's Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today's world. Geneva was founded and is governed by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) and is a founding member of both the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and IACE (International Association for Christian Education).