2009 PSAC Cross Country Championships Program (pdf)
2009 Championship Course Maps (pdf)
Host Site
Edinboro will host the 2009 men's and women's cross country championships on Saturday at the newly-dedicated Doug Watts Cross Country Course. The Fighting Scots are the defending men's championships while Shippensburg is the defending women's champions. The women's race will be run at 10:00 a.m. while the men's race goes off at 11:00 a.m. This marks the 30th anniversary of the PSAC women's cross country championship while the men's championship will be contested in the PSAC for the 52nd time this year.
Previews courtesy of Edinboro Sports Information
Men
Fans should be treated to one of the most competitive races in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference history in 2009 when Edinboro University hosts the 52nd Annual PSAC Men’s Cross Country Championship on Saturday, October 31. The men’s 8K race starts at 10 a.m. on the newly-dedicated Doug Watts Cross Country Course.
The top three teams -- Edinboro, Shippensburg, and Lock Haven -- are separated by relatively miniscule margins as the regular season comes to a close. 2008 champion Edinboro, a perennial power with 27 PSAC titles, was the preseason number one … by a wide margin. However, the Fighting Scots will have to rely on a talented freshman class to retain their crown with senior Josh Arthur and junior Barry McLaughlin both questionable due to injury and illness, respectively. Arthur was an All-American in 2007 after finishing 28th at Nationals and earned All-PSAC honors with a fourth place finish. He redshirted a year ago. McLaughlin is a two-time All-PSAC/All-Region runner who was fifth a year ago.
Shippensburg carries a solid, but relatively untested 2009 big meet squad into the PSAC Championships. Bryan Beegle took home sixth place at last year’s PSAC’s. The Red Raider junior is backed up well by junior Sean Stetler (28th) and sophomore Stephen Schelander , and any number of men who could step up to earn the number one team spot.
With Nick Hilton showing consistent excellent big meet performance and AJ Johnson in the front pack, Lock Haven matches up well for the winners circle. Hilton was 12th a year ago to earn All-PSAC honors, then went on to finish seventh at the Atlantic Regional. Johnson was 41st at PSAC’s, but a week later placed 14th at the regional. The Bald Eagles showcase middle distance specialist Brandon Pomerantz, who was seventh a year ago. The senior is a three-time All-Region performer and two All-PSAC runner. Lock Haven has three other runners to impact the scoring.
If Edinboro is to repeat in 2009, individual winner contender Ben Hahn will have to show his leadership. The junior finished second a year ago and was fifth in his first try in 2007. Hahn was one of four Boro runners to earn All-PSAC honors in 2008, and went on to place second at the East Regional and 17th at Nationals, good for All-American honors. Freshman Scott Anderson and senior Chris Lantinen must be in the front pack to allow the remainder of Edinboro’s extremely young squad the chance to win. Lantinen is a two-time All-PSAC performer who came in 19th last year.
Though the above three teams uniforms will dominate the top twenty spots in the race, spectators should be able to spot IUP freshman Hillary Mugun, a native of Kenya, Slippery Rock senior Matt Gray, East Stroudsburg’s Frank Fezza, along with Bloomburg’s Bobby Furman (34th in 2008) and Misha Litvinov (48th).
Edinboro edged Slippery Rock a year ago, with 56 points compared to 65 for The Rock, and Lock Haven was third (85 points). Lock Haven went on to win the Atlantic Regional a week later behind Hilton, Pomerantz and Johnson, but the Bald Eagles lost top runner Tim Getz. Slippery Rock was third at the regional, but the Rock is in a rebuilding mode after losing a host of talented harriers, including Jeff Weiss and Pat Reagan, who were third and fourth a year ago. Even still, SRU is ranked fifth in the latest USTFCCCA regional rankings.
As always when Edinboro hosts the championships, weather could prove a determining factor. Edinboro has a good, fair course, but by the end of October, runners could find water and mud. Did we mention that the last time Edinboro hosted the PSAC Championship, in 2002, the runners were greeted by several inches of snow on Saturday morning.
Women
Shippensburg will look to repeat as PSAC champions on Saturday, October 31 when Edinboro University hosts the championships on the newly-dedicated Doug Watts Cross Country Course. The women’s 6K race is set to start at 11 a.m.
Shippensburg edged Slippery Rock in the 2008 PSAC Championships with all five scorers either freshmen or sophomores. The Lady Raiders went on to win the East Regional and finish sixth at the NCAA Division II National Championships, the second-best finish in school history.
Led by sophomore super-star Neely Spence, the Ship women bring power ‘up front’ and sufficient depth to be considered a ‘shoo in’ in 2009. Spence, the daughter of Shippensburg coach Steve Spence, won the PSAC and East Regional individual titles and went on to place second at Nationals. She was named both the PSAC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
Mary Dell adds top five PSAC scoring potential to a group that include any number of runners guaranteed to secure the team trophy. Dell, a returning All-American after a 33rd place finish at Nationals, is a junior who placed 11th a year ago at PSAC’s and 10th at the regional.
Junior Abby Huber (12th a year ago) and sophomore Katie Frey (18th) were also All-PSAC performers a year ago.
A big gap in team strength places Shippensburg well ahead of the pack in an unusually down year for PSAC teams. Edinboro, despite two front runners, chose to ‘redshirt’ a number of solid runners in hopes of national recognition in the years to come. Slippery Rock has struggled with consistent scoring to match its top twenty NCAA II ranking. Kutztown may be short in the lead pack but presents a solid number of scorers. Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, Clarion and Millersville could put together a good meet and finish well.
Spence, who has not lost this year, including an easy win at the Division I Paul Short Invitational and the mostly Division I Penn State Pre-National Meet, is in a class of her own. The NCAA Division II cross country runner-up and 5,000-meter champion as a freshman, no one is near her level of running in the PSAC.
The PSAC still lists many potential All Americans, however. For instance, Mercyhurst senior Christie Turak has run extremely well in 2009, including a runner-up finish at the Notre Dame Catholic Invitational. A non-high school runner, Turak has steadily improved to the point this season where she is ‘sure shot’ All-American material. She was third a year ago in the PSAC’s. However, she will have to live up to her pre-meet expectations as a bevy of quality women lurk to defeat her.
Edinboro, in search of its 16th PSAC crown, offers junior Tina Yi, a native of Beijing, China in only her second year of cross country competition. She won the brown division of the Paul Short Women’s Invitational. A year ago she placed fourth at the PSAC Championships and went on to narrowly miss All-American honors with a 36th place finish at Nationals.
Slippery Rock senior Jen Harpp has definite top 15 national goals and the drive to reach it. A two-time All-PSAC competitor in cross country, she was the runnerup at last year’s PSAC’s and went on to finish 40th at Nationals. Millersville’s Priscilla Jennings has an All-American cross country goal, as well, and Mansfield’s Brenae Edwards should figure in the mix. Jennings placed fifth a year ago, while Edwards has made great strides after placing 37th.
Freshman Erin Kling of California(Pa.) has shown excellent potential and will compete for all- conference honors with Edinboro’s Danielle Cerroni, Bloomsburg’s Angela Borealo and Andrea Kellock, Lock Haven’s Lindsay Lambert and Kutztown’s Kristin Cupido. Cerroni is one of the more improved runners in the conference after placing 83rd last year. Kellock finished eighth last year, with Lambert ninth and Cupido 20th. Borealo is a senior who did not compete a year ago but was 12th in 2007.
Though the team title is in little doubt, the extremely high caliber of PSAC individuals will showcase the PSAC as national women’s contenders.