From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Payton Falkenstein, an East Stroudsburg junior from Burlington Township, placed 4^th Saturday in the PSAC Championships in Edinboro and led the Warriors to their first team title ever.

That’s the best finish by an East Stroudsburg woman in 11 years, since Allison Decker ran 2^nd in the 2014 meet at Mansfield.

It was Falkenstein’s 7^th top-5 finish in a PSAC championship race indoors, outdoors or in cross country.

Falkenstein ran 22:41 over 6,000 meters at the Doug Watts course at Pennsylvania Western University in Edinboro. She finished just 24 seconds behind winner Emily Bowers from Gannon University in Erie.

Falkenstein placed 6^th in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference XC race last year in Kutztown. She was also 2^nd in the 5,000 at the 2024 Outdoor Championships at Lehigh, 1^st in the 2025 Indoor Championships at Lehigh’s Rauch Fieldhouse in the 5,000, 3^rd in the 3,000 and 5^th in the mile, 2^nd in the 10,000 and 4^th in the 5,000 last spring at Slippery Rock.

East Stroudsburg won its 1^st team title in the meet’s 45-year history on a 6^th-runner tiebreaker after East Stroudsburg and Edinboro both finished with 77 points. East Stroudsburg’s 6^th runner finished 33^rd overall and Edinboro’s was 62^nd.