LOCK HAVEN, Pa. —- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference’s Shippensburg University was selected as the favorite in the 2024 Men’s Cross Country Preseason Poll, as voted on by the conference’s head coaches, receiving unanimous No. 1 votes.
The Raiders finished first overall at the 2023 PSAC Championships and are looking to repeat this year. The team had four top-five finishers in that meet, with three returning in Garrett Quinan, Aiden Gonder, and Ryan Wolfe, who finished first, second, and fourth, respectively, to both earn First-Team All-PSAC Honors. They have an exciting group of newcomers including Ben Devine, a transfer from Marywood University, who was the Athletic East Rookie of the Year in 2023.
Finishing second at the 2023 PSAC Championship meet and taking second in the 2024 Preseason Poll is Slippery Rock. The Rock had three top-10 finishers and two of those finishers returning, Joey Cintavey (who finished sixth) and Troy Hart (seventh.) Slippery Rock is looking for another top-three finish this season.
This year's third place Preseason Poll pick, IUP, took home third place in last year's PSAC Championship meet. The Crimson Hawks will likely challenge again, returning last year's ninth-place finisher, Joel Beckwith and fifteenth place finisher, Mike Formica. They are looking for another top-five finish.
East Stroudsburg was selected fourth in the poll. They are returning with almost their entire team from 2023 as well as adding some freshmen who they hope will contribute to another top-four finish. East Stroudsburg placed fourth overall in the 2023 Championship. Kutztown was selected fifth and took home sixth place. They lost two Second Team All-PSAC honorees Andrew Diehl and Jack Hollar. They hope to finish in the top-eight PSAC finish.
Those teams are followed by California (Pa.) and Lock Haven in sixth and seventh place in the 2024 poll. Rounding out the top-10 selections were West Chester, Bloomsburg and Gannon.
Concluding the poll was Edinboro, Pitt-Johnstown, Seton Hill, Mansfield, and Shepherd.
The full results are listed below:
2024 PSAC Men’s Cross Country Preseason Poll (# of first-place votes)
- Shippensburg (14)
- Slippery Rock (1)
- IUP
- East Stroudsburg
- Kutztown
- California
- Lock Haven
- West Chester
- Bloomsburg
- Gannon
- Edinboro
- Pitt-Johnstown
- Seton Hill
- Mansfield
- Shepherd