Garrett Quinan defended his individual title in the 8K and led Shippensburg University’s men’s cross-country team to a title defense at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships on Saturday that were hosted in Kutztown. 

The women’s team delivered a strong runner-up finish in the championship, led by freshman Ella Hartel, with a seventh-place finish in the individual 6K.

Junior Quinan is the first Raider in school history to win the PSAC individual title more than once after winning in 2023 and on Saturday. 

“It’s a great feeling to come back and defend my conference title, as well as lead the team to another victory,” Quinan said. "It means a lot to take the win as a team and it is a boost of confidence leading into these last two meets of regionals and nationals.”

The men’s team put up a dominant performance. They won the team’s standings with 28 points, 55 points ahead of second-place East Stroudsburg and 76 points ahead of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in third place. 

The SU runners finished 1-4-6-8-9, which marked the first time in school history that all scoring runners finished in the top nine. The 28 points are the third-best score in school history.

Speaking about the results, head coach Steve Spence said, “It was very satisfying to see the hard work pay dividends and to see our men execute a plan and respond well to the pressure of being the heavy favorites.”

The Raider pack started the race with a modest pace before accelerating around the 4K mark. According to Spence, the race plan was to remain patient in the beginning of the race before moving to the front with an increase in effort around the 5K mark, which his runners executed well.

Behind Quinan, redshirt freshman Tommy Crum Jr. missed a podium spot in fourth place. Noah Bernarding from California (Pa.) edged Crum Jr. out for third place by 0.2 seconds. Crum Jr. was the only freshman to finish in the top 15, to earn an All-PSAC First Team classification. 

Senior Aiden Gonder became a five-time All-PSAC finisher with his sixth place. Four of the five times, he earned first-team All-PSAC honors.

In the last PSAC cross-country race of his career, graduate Ian Sherlock earned his best result with an eighth-place finish. Sherlock earned first-team All-PSAC honors for the second time in his career. 

The scorers were rounded out by junior Ryan Wolfe, who finished ninth. It was his second straight Top 10 finish after he finished fourth in 2023.

Freshman Ramon Urena was the second-fastest freshman in the field behind Crum. Urena finished 19th for second-team All-PSAC classification.

Sophomores Brennan Wellock and Ben Devine rounded out the Raiders All-PSAC honorees with their 21st and 24th place finishes, respectively.

On the women’s side, Hartel´s seventh-place finish led the team to the second place, just 18 points behind victorious Slippery Rock. SU’s score of 88 points edged out East Stroudsburg by three points for second place.

The Raiders had the best team finish since winning the PSAC title in 2018, and they also had multiple All-PSAC first team finishers for the first time since that year.

Going into the race, Spence said he stressed that the women should “be confident and trust in their preparation.” 

According to graduate Kelsey Hull, the plan for the race was to run together and to run for each other, which the team executed well.

“Our big focus was to run for the other girls on the team,” Hull said. “When it gets tough out there, you are going to give up on yourself first before you give up on your team so each of these ladies ran their hearts out for each other today and I am so very proud of them.”

Behind Hartel as pacesetter, Hull finished in 11th place. Both runners earned All-PSAC first team classifications for the first time in their respective careers.

Senior Victoria Mattioli crossed the finish line for a 17th-place finish, which earned her an All-PSAC second team classification for the first time in her career.

Juniors Livi Rieck and Katy Todd were the final two scorers for SU with their respective 24th- and 27th-place finishes. Both earned All-PSAC second team honors as well. Todd improved from her previous PSACs in 2023 by 32 places.

Freshman Victoria Bartholomew narrowly missed out on All-PSAC classification in 32nd place.

Both the men and the women will take a week off competing, before they travel to Lock Haven to compete at the 2024 NCAA Atlantic Region Championships. The best three men’s and women’s teams of the Atlantic Region earn a trip to the National Championship in Sacramento later this fall. 

SU’s men’s cross country team wants to return to the national meet after competing there last year, according to Quinan.

“The goal as a team is to place in the top three at regionals to punch our ticket to the NCAA National Championships in Sacramento,” Quinan said. “At nationals, we hope to race well and compete with the best in Division II.”

The women’s team has not made a trip to the national meet since 2018, but believes it has what it takes to change that this season.

Hull said, “As far as regionals, we believe we have the potential and motivation to run into the top three teams and earn ourselves a trip to NCAA nationals.”

The 2024 NCAA Atlantic Region Championships will take place in Lock Haven on Nov. 9, with both the men’s and the women’s team trying to earn a ticket to the national meet.

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