Enters 6th Season In 2026 • 36 All-PSAC Finishes
Adam Mengel was named the head coach of the men's and women's cross country programs on August 16, 2021, and is entering his sixth season on the ESU staff in 2026-27.
Mengel also serves as an assistant coach for the men's and women's track and field teams, where he works primarily with the middle- and long-distance events.
Mengel led ESU to one of its best cross country seasons ever in 2025, as the women’s team won its first conference championship and the men’s team finished as runners-up. With the team’s success, Mengel was voted by the conference’s head coaches as the PSAC Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year, marking the first time an ESU head coach won the award. The Warriors tied for first place in the women’s meet, but owned the tiebreaker as Payton Falkenstein, Sarah Williams, and Riley Trentowski all recorded top-five finishes for the program’s first PSAC title. Falkenstein, who was named PSAC Athlete of the Week twice during the season, and Williams led ESU to its third overall and second consecutive NCAA Championships appearance after the Warriors finished in second at the Atlantic Regional, the team’s best finish ever at the race. The women’s team would go on to finish 32nd at the national race. On the men’s side, the Warriors recorded their second-straight second-place finish at the PSAC Championships, with Landon Boyle, Brian McGarrity, and Aiden Voth earning First Team All-PSAC honors. ESU would go on to finish in fifth place at the regional, as Boyle and Andrew Tatesure earned All-Region with top-25 finishes.
The men’s team recorded its first of back-to-back second-place finishes at the PSAC Championships in 2024, which matched the program’s best finish at the meet. Boyle and Bryce Keenoy secured All-PSAC First Team with top-15 finishes, leading the Warriors to the regional race. At the Atlantic Region championships, ESU finished in seventh place, its first top-10 finish since 2019. Prior to their PSAC championship, Mengel had the women’s cross country team on a steady rise, as the Warriors finished third at the conference race in 2024. With Falkenstein and Daniella Napoli’s All-PSAC First Team finishes leading ESU to the NCAA Atlantic Regional, the Warriors punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1999 after finishing third.
Despite the ESU men's and women's cross country teams being selected to finish eighth and 11th, respectively, in the PSAC preseason poll, the Warriors both turned in fourth-place finishes at the 2023 conference championships. The men's squad matched their best performance since the 2019 championships, as sophomore Landon Boyle garnered Second Team All-PSAC honors with a 21st-place finish. The women's team marked the highest finish since 2017 as freshman Bri Hennett took fifth overall for the best finish by a first-year student in program history to earn First Team All-PSAC honors, while Holly Chambers (26th) and Carla Bautista (29th) landed on the Second Team.
Hennett continued to rewrite the record books at the Atlantic Region Championships as she notched the highest finish by a freshman in school history after placing eighth to lead the Warriors to an eighth-place finish. Hennett earned an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, becoming the first freshman to qualify as an individual in program history as well as the first runner to compete at the championships since 2015. The Northumberland native placed 88th in the 6K with a time of 21:28.5 at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, Missouri.
Additionally, Hennett was a two-time PSAC Athlete of the Week, becoming the first Warrior to receive multiple weekly awards from the conference since 2017.
On the track in 2023-24, Hennett became the fourth student-athlete in program history to be recognized as the PSAC Women's Track & Field Freshman of the Year after recording runner-up finishes in the 3000m and 5000m at the PSAC Indoor Championships.
During the 2022 cross country season, the men's and women's programs produced 9th and 17th-place finishes at the PSAC Championships. Luke Valdevit earned All-PSAC honors in consecutive years as the graduate student finished 26th to land on the Second Team. The men's team opened the campaign in impressive fashion, claiming first place overall at the Adelphi Panthers XC Invite to capture the program's first top finish since October 12, 2019.
In his first season at the helm of the men's and women's cross country programs, the Warriors earned 12th- and 15th-place finishes, respectively, at the PSAC Championships. Luke Valdevit shone for the men's squad by earning All-PSAC First Team honors with an 11th-place finish in the individual standings. Valdevit also garnered PSAC Athlete of the Week laurels on Oct. 11 for his performance at the DeSales Invitational.
Mengel brings nine years of coaching experience to the Poconos, including a stop at PSAC member IUP for two years. He most recently served as the cross country head coach and track and field assistant coach at Indiana University East from 2018 until this spring.
Under the direction of Mengel, the Red Wolves' men's indoor track and field team captured the River States Conference championship in 2020 and finished as the runners-up in 2019. On the women's side, both the track and field team (2020) and cross country squad (2019) earned runner-up finishes at their respective conference championships. Also, three cross-country runners were national qualifiers during Mengel's time.
Prior to coaching at Indiana University East, Mengel served as an assistant cross country and track and field coach at Duquesne. With the Dukes, Mengel produced four A10 Conference champions in track and field, one in cross country, and four NCAA Regional/National qualifiers.
Mengel began his coaching career as an assistant coach at IUP in 2012, where he helped train one PSAC champion and two national qualifiers in track and field. For cross country, the women's team qualified nationally twice, and one male student-athlete punched his ticket to nationals.
As a student-athlete at Saint Francis, Mengel was a four-year letter winner in cross country and indoor/outdoor track and field.
Mengel is a native of Monaca, Pa., and earned his bachelor's degree in biology along with minors in math and chemistry from Saint Francis in 2012. He added a master's in science in education from Indiana University in 2020.
He is a certified USTFCCCA strength and conditioning coach and USATF Level 2 coach in endurance.
PSAC Overall Award Winners
2024 - Bri Hennett - Indoor Track & Field Freshman of the Year
2023 - Bri Hennett - Freshman of the Year (Cross Country)
