Garrett Quinan led the Shippensburg University men’s cross country team with another outstanding performance to a second-place team finish at the 2024 NCAA Atlantic Region Championships at Lock Haven on Nov. 9. The result booked the men’s ticket to the NCAA DII National Championships in Sacramento, California. The women’s cross country team finished in fifth place, just missing the ticket to the National Championships by two places.

The men’s team raced the 10K  for the first time this season at the regional meet and all seven SU runners either finished with a new personal best time or debuted in the 10K. SU scored 45 points and was just five points behind victorious Davis & Elkins. The Senators were ranked No. 24 in the nation and No. 1 in the Atlantic Region going into the weekend.

Head Coach Steve Spence said the team knew the Senators would start quickly. Therefore, the Raiders´ strategy was to stay close to the Senators and be in position for the second half of the race to go for the win, according to Spence.

“We executed well,” Spence said. “We were down 13 points at about halfway and closed it to 5 at the end. I feel that we did the best we could on this day.”

Junior Quinan, the reigning Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) champion, impressed once more with a strong second-place finish, just five seconds behind the victorious Jan Thewes from Davis & Elkins. 

Quinan finished in a new personal record (PR) of 29:56.2, a new PR by 27 seconds and, according to Spence, faster than any other Raider on the Lock Haven course. The result earned Quinan his third All-Region classification in three years.

Reflecting on his performance and the team’s performance, Quinan said he is proud of both.

“We delivered a strong performance and came up just short, but I believe this was an opportunity to test ourselves ahead of the biggest challenge of the year, the national meet,” Quinan said.

Senior Aiden Gonder finished in sixth place at regionals for the second year in a row. He improved his PR to 30:16.4 and finished with his third All-Region honors in his fourth regional championship. He gave his all for the team title and while it felt bittersweet to miss out on that, it was still a big deal for the team to qualify for nationals for the second year in a row, Gonder said.

Redshirt-freshman Tommy Crum Jr. placed eighth in his debut regional 10K race with a time of 30:21, earning All-Region honors for the first time. Crum was the second-fastest freshman in the field, only behind Franklin Kipchirchir. Spence believes this performance alongside Crum´s fourth-place finish at the PSAC Championships will earn Crum the PSAC Rookie of the Year award.

Improving four spots from his finish last season, junior Ryan Wolfe ran to a 14th-place finish in 30:46, a 29-second PR. Wolfe earned his second straight All-Region classifications.

Graduate Ian Sherlock rounded out the SU scoring runners with his 19th place. He passed five runners over the final 1,300 meters to finish in 31:05. Sherlock earned his second straight All-Region honors as well.

The women’s team went into the meet with the goal to finish in the top three to also book its ticket to the 2024 NCAA National Championships. Unable to compensate one of their best runners not finishing the race, the women fell short of the goal and placed fifth. However, all six women who finished the race achieved a big new PR in the 6K and three women earned All-Region classifications.

Going into the race, the women wanted to score below 130 points, since that is typically enough for third place, Spence said. In the end, the women scored 156 points for fifth place.

Davis & Elkins won the meet with 93 points ahead of Slippery Rock with 100 points. East Stroudsburg (ESU) finished in the highly contested third place with 114 points

Junior Livi Rieck, a two-time All-Region performer, was supposed to lead the Raiders for the regional meet yet was unable to finish the race due to health reasons. She was projected to place in the Top 20, which would have gotten SU closer to the goal score of 130, but likely still would not have been enough to edge out ESU for third place.

Spence paid his respects to ESU as well, saying, “East Stroudsburg had an outstanding effort and finished 3rd with 114 points.  On this day, that was more than what we were capable of.”

Despite falling short of the goal to qualify for the national championship, there were still lots of positives to take away from the weekend for the women.

Senior Victoria Mattioli led the Raiders with her 18th-place finish in 21:46, which is a PR of 50 seconds for her. She improved on her finish from the previous year by 21 spots.

Right behind Mattioli, two-tenths of a second behind, freshman Ella Hartel finished her regional meet debut in 19th place. Hartel improved her 6K PR by 62 seconds.

Coming in just 1.2 seconds behind Hartel in 20th place was graduate Kelsey Hull. Hull also improved her PR by over a minute to 21:47. It was Hull´s last collegiate cross-country race, which left her feeling bittersweet.

“I am proud to end my cross-country career with an All-Region and a new PR, knowing I gave it my all with no regrets,” Hull said.

Freshman Shaela Kruskie delivered a 1:42 minute PR in her regional debut and placed 51st in 22:31, while junior Katy Todd rounded out the SU scorers with her 56th-place finish and lowered her PR by 46 seconds to 22:34.

Freshman Victoria Bartholomew crossed the finish line in 22:37, a new PR by 49 seconds and good for 58th place.

Mattioli, Hartel and Hull all earned All-Region classifications with their respective Top 20 finishes.

Despite falling short of the team goal, Spence highlighted the positives of the day for the women´s team when he recapped the day and the season.

“With six personal best times and three All-Region runners, it was a satisfying day,” Spence said. “I wish that we could have had a little more in the tank and been closer to third place, but we gave it our best effort which is all that any coach can ask. Looking back on the season as a whole, I am immensely proud of our team.  It’s been an absolute pleasure to be their coach.” 

While the women’s cross country team is done with its season, the men’s team will have one more meet, the National Championships, which the men have been getting ready for the entire season and have set high goals for.

“We believe that we can be a Top 15 team in the nation,” Gonder said. “That was one of our goals from before the season and after our regional performance, we are on pace for that type of placement.”

The men’s team has been preparing this entire season for the national meet and is excited to go compete, according to Quinan.

“All the hard work we have put in this season has been with this specific meet in mind,” Quinan said. “As a team, we know what we are capable of and what needs to be done. Now, it is just a matter of trusting our training and having the confidence to go out there and execute.”

The men will travel to Sacramento, California, to compete at the 2024 NCAA National Championships on Nov. 23.

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