Westminster captured the Presidents’ Athletic Conference spring football season.

Senior linebacker Ian Barr said the goal is to win two titles in the same calendar year.

If preseason polls mean anything, Westminster is the early favorite of the conference coaches and athletic directors, along with media outlets, to do so.

Westminster received 21 first-place votes and totaled 316 points at the league’s annual football media day Tuesday at Saint Vincent.

“We are honored and humbled to be picked preseason No. 1. I believe that distinction is more of a reward for our spring season,” Westminster coach Scott Benzel said. “Moving forward and preparing for the 2021 fall season is our team’s main focus. We are eager to compete.”

Westminster will test its mettle in the first game of the season when it hosts Division III power Mount Union on Sept. 4.

“We’re looking forward to the game,” Benzel said. “It should be exciting. I’d rather play them early in the season, and more than likely if you win the conference, you’re going to play them.”

Washington & Jefferson, which lost Westminster in the spring championship game, finished second with six first-place votes and 299 points and Case Western Reserve, which elected not to participate in the spring season, was third with seven-first place votes and 291 points.

Grove City was picked to finish fourth (229) with one first-place vote, followed by Carnegie Mellon (213), Geneva (156), Saint Vincent (144), Bethany (113), Waynesburg (63) and Thiel (56).

Washington & Jefferson returns 40 seniors and an incredible 18 returning starters on defense. Some starters opted not to play in the spring, but coach Mike Sirianni welcomed them back.

“We have one of our greatest defenses, and we didn’t win a conference title,” Sirianni said about last spring. “We have a team that can do something.”

Washington & Jefferson will open the season Sept. 4 at top-10 power John Carroll.

Saint Vincent coach Aaron Smetanka said the conference has some powerful squads.

“The top four teams are really good,” Smetanka said. “If we want to contend for a conference title, we have to continue to work hard and recruit well. I’m excited about the class we brought in this season.”

Smetanka said he’s excited about the offense, which is led by junior quarterback Brady Walker. The top four receivers, led by Keith Kalp, return. Smetanka said Walker has six or seven receivers he can go to.

Waynesburg was picked ninth, but the Yellow Jackets have one of the conference’s most exciting players: junior running back Justin Flack. The Derry grad rushed for 483 yards in the spring despite missing a lot of time while suffering from covid-19.

Waynesburg coach Chris Smithley said he’s expecting another big season from Flack.

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