WAYNESBURG, Pa. (July 2) – Waynesburg University Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Chris Hardie returns to competition on Saturday, July 5, at the 2025 Lake Erie Association Open/Masters Championship, hosted at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Hardie is entered in five individual open events at the meet: the long jump, 200-meter dash, 1500-meter run, discus and javelin. The five events make up the masters track and field pentathlon, which Hardie has specialized in for the past several seasons.

"I won't be able to attend the National Championship meet this year as it's a bit too far away for me to travel to," said Hardie. "Fortunately, the Lake Erie Association runs a solid master's championship, so I am excited to compete against some of the top master's athletes in our area. I changed up my strength training and plyometric routine a bit this spring, so I am anxious to see if that new training works for me."

Hardie last competed at the 2024 USATF Masters Midwest Region Outdoor Championships in the 45-to-49 age range, where he medaled in all five events and took gold in the javelin, long jump and 1500. The in 2023, he placed third in the pentathlon at the USATF Masters National Championships with a score of 2,225 points. At the end of the 2023 calendar year, Hardie ranked third nationally and 18th globally in the men's 45–49 age group pentathlon.

Hardie is a seven-time Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Coach of the Year who led the Waynesburg women's cross country team to six consecutive PAC titles from 2016 to 2021. As a collegiate athlete at PennWest California, he competed in 11 different track & field events, served as a three-time team captain, and qualified twice for NCAA regional competition in cross country.