Pitt-Greensburg Hosts Its Annual 5K Event

by Steven Dimino

Posted on April 10, 2025 by insiderupg in Campus Life, Home, Sports // 0 Comments

Photo Courtesy of kim west on Unsplash

Pitt-Greensburg hosted their second annual 5K event on April 5. In the competition, runners from around the area gathered and competed in a race across the college campus. Runners were able to view the whole campus as they passed by all of the dorms (except University Courts), baseball field, the Academic Villages, and Chambers Hall.

Jeremy Eshleman, Pitt-Greensburg’s cross-country coach, organized the entire event. The fundraiser was for his team’s benefit,with proceeds going towards extra gear and team builders for the squad.

“It was an idea of mine last year. I thought it would just be nice to have a 5K on campus,” Eshleman said. “I thought it would be nice having that trail race to kind of reach out to the people I know also.”

In addition, Eshleman was more than satisfied with the turn out, as a total of 31 racers competed in the event. The runners competing consisted of college kids, some of Pitt-Greensburg’s cross-country runners, other schools and their runners, and many more.

One of the top racers that finished was Andrew Boyd, who graduated in 2011 from Penn State- Altoona. He majored in business, marketing and management, and minored in entrepreneurship.

Boyd enjoys running as he’s also competing in three marathons in a timeframe of just three months.

Boyd said, “It was just another excuse to run and support a great cause, a great cross-country team, and a great coach.”

Abigail Zavatchan competed in Pitt-Greensburg’s 5k fundraiser as well, as she clocked in the 6th best overall time, and best female time clocking in at 34:01.68.

Despite the wet weather conditions, Abigail refused to let it slow her down, as conditions such as these aren’t typically a runner’s ideal racing setting. On the other hand, the downhill portions of the race benefited her the most, as she believed those were the best parts of the trail.

When asked about her experience, Zavatchan said that, “The competition is good, going against all the college girls….”