It was a special day on Saturday for the Shippensburg University men’s cross-country team, as it placed five runners in the Top 10 and two more in the Top 16.
The performance was good enough to give the Raiders first place in the Carnegie Mellon University Invitational in Pittsburgh.
The race was the final preparation before the PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) Championships.
The team placed first through third to pull away from the rest of the pack, earning a total of 24 points.
Dominic Stroh returned to the lineup after missing the previous meet and claimed first in a dominant performance of just 26:12.3.
Calvin Conrad-Kline followed him in second just three seconds behind at 26:15.8.
Harrison Schettler rounded out the Top 3, finishing another three seconds after Conrad-Kline in 26:18.1.
Division I competition like the University of Pittsburgh was unable to stop the Raiders. The team was at the top of its game, looking forward to the championships.
Rob Moser also put in a great effort, placing eighth in 26:29.0.
Alex Balla was the final scoring Raider, as he claimed 10th in a time of 26:32.6.
The unusual heat for an October day failed to slow down the SU squad, as Connor Holm and Sean Weidner, finishing 12th and 16th, respectively.
Holm finished in 26:38.4 and Weidner had a time of 26:50.1.
The women’s team also performed well in Pittsburgh, taking third in the competition. The team had four runners in the Top 20, giving it 67 total points.
Jackie Kinkead had another strong performance, continuing her impressive 2017 campaign with a fifth-place finish, which was the top place for the Raiders. Kinkead had a time of 18:45.2.
Bryanna Dissinger was the next Raider to finish, posting a solid time of 19:18.0 to earn her spot in 14th. Lizzie Manickas and Lydia Cagle then took 15th and 16th, respectively. Manickas finished in 19:19.8, while Cagle was less than a second behind with 19:20.6.
Jenna Robbins took 22nd as the last scoring runner for the Raiders with a time of 19:44.6. Rounding out the Top 40 for the Raiders were Emily Kachik in 33rd and Lindsey Gerlach in 39th. SU was just behind Division I schools Duquesne University and Pitt in the standings, earning the top spot for a Division II squad.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will now look to the PSAC Championships Oct.21 at California University of Pennsylvania. The women will start at 10 a.m. and the men will follow at 11 a.m.
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