Championship Homepage
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University will host the 2012 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships Saturday at Cooper's Lake Campground.
The Slippery Rock sports information office has set up a championship homepage (linked above) with all pertinent information about the meet, including directions to the course and historical data.
The event will kick off with the men's championship 8,000-meter race at 10:15 a.m., followed by the women's 6,000-meter race at 11:15 a.m. and the awards ceremony at noon.
An admission charge of $5 per vehicle is mandated by the conference office, with the $5 serving as admission for all individuals in each vehicle.
Fans that cannot attend the meet can follow live updates of each race through the official Slippery Rock Athletics Twitter page (
@Rock_Athletics). The SRU sports information office will provide mile-by-mile updates from each race using the hashtag #PSACxc, including the top individuals and the way the team races are shaping up.
Brief previews of each of the men's teams competing at the championship are provided below, listed in order of the team finishes from 2011.
1.
Edinboro - Edinboro, ranked 17th in Division II, looks to defend its PSAC championship after winning its 28th league title a year ago … It was Edinboro's first since 2008 … three All-PSAC runners return from that team, including Bryan Deibel, who placed seventh a year ago … Jordan Roose added an 11th place showing and Bart Eckel was 16th … It marked the first All-PSAC honors for all three … a year ago the Fighting Scots followed up the PSAC title with the Atlantic Region crown, as Deibel, Eckel and Matt Link earned All-Region honors … Doug Watts is in his 43rd year as the head coach … Edinboro won the Daniel Walker Invitational with Deibel not only winning the individual race but posting a course-record time earlier this fall … the Fighting Scots also won the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble as Tim McConnell won the individual title.
2.
Shippensburg - The No. 35 Shippensburg University men's cross country team boasts just two seniors in its lineup and will have eight competitors that are either freshmen or sophomores in uniform this weekend … Senior Matt Gillette hopes to vie for the individual title and is fresh off a win at Gettysburg in which he posted the fourth-fastest 8K in the 24-year history of the meet (25:21) and bested 388 other runners … His 8K PR is 24:36 and he placed sixth at the NCAA Atlantic Regionals held last year on the Cooper's Lake Campground course … Sophomore Peter Gelston [26:25 PR, 3K steeplechase PSAC champion] and Bernard England [26:00 PR, All-PSAC in 800] also hope to make an impact … Others to watch are freshmen Ryan Spangler [26:28 PR], Braden Bruning [26:44 PR] and Austin McGinley [26:37 PR].
3.
Lock Haven - The No. 13 Lock Haven University men's cross country team looks fit to make a run at the Bald Eagles sixth PSAC Championship ... Last year the Bald Eagles were third before taking second at the regional championships ... LHU will be led by junior-standout Alex Monroe, a two-time All-American the returning PSAC and Regional individual champion ... He was sixth at PSAC's as a true-freshman in 2010 ... Vince Fadale, Mike Garraway and Mike Nemeth also have PSAC championships experience … All 10 Bald Eagles have All-PSAC potential as evident by The Haven's strong pack-running ability that led the Bald Eagles to the title at last weekend's Gettysburg Invitational.
4.
East Stroudsburg - ESU's fourth-place finish last year was its best since finishing third in 1995 and 1996 … Warriors return four of five scorers from 2011 led by senior Frank Fezza (2-time All-PSAC and All-Region), who was 12th in 2009 and 2011 … Fezza won the Brown division of the Paul Short Run at Lehigh on Sept. 28, besting a field of 283 runners … he also won at Fordham and was second at Kutztown … sophomore Chris Schneider was last year's PSAC Freshman of the Year … senior Mike Pereira was ESU's second runner in 2010 and 2011 and was 13th overall last year … senior Amr Aldeen has been in the top 30 the last two seasons … senior Jim Romano, a scorer as a sophomore, ran third on the team at the Paul Short Run … senior Mike Saparito (2011 PSAC indoor 800 champion) and sophomore Chris Ott could also score.
5.
Slippery Rock - SRU is looking to improve on its fifth-place finish from last season ... The team has competed just once this fall with its full compliment of runners and was dominant in winning the SRU Invitational on that occasion ... The team returns three All-PSAC selections from last season in
Travis Arrigoni,
Morgan Elliott and
Alex Koksal ... Also expected to compete for scoring positions are
Chris Grooms,
Eric Geddis,
Michael Beegle and
Jaron Martin ... Slippery Rock is currently ranked fifth in the Atlantic Region … The Rock placed all five scorers in the top seven en route to winning its only meet with a full compliment of runners this fall …
Chris Grooms has raced just once and was the top finisher in that meet.
6.
California (Pa.) - The Vulcans have finished sixth at the league championships for two-straight years … Cal U will be running without All-American and two-time All-PSAC honoree Aaron Dinzeo, who is redshirting this season … Sophomore Nick Pezza has been the team's top runner in three-straight races, while senior Chris Poss has finished first or second on the team three times this year. The Vulcans will also look for scoring finishes from Abel Robinault, Nick Gibson, Steven Stoffel and Lenny Verdetto III.
7.
Kutztown - Kutztown will look to move up after finishing seventh at the PSAC meet a year ago, as the Golden Bears have been in the regional rankings on several occasions this season ... Zach Fleming has been KU's top runner for much of the year, as he was the Golden Bears' top runner in two of his three races this season, including a seventh place finish at the DII Challenge at Kutztown ... Senior Eli Weeks was an All-Atlantic Region runner in 2011 and will push Fleming for the top spot ... Jake Austin, Alex Watson and Andrew Hinrichs have also been constants near the front of the Kutztown pack ... Freshmen Jack Inglis, Mark Pfaeffle and Andrew Thompson, as well as sophomore Macauley Norman have provided depth to the Golden Bears.
8.
Indiana (Pa.) - Led by returning All-Atlantic Region selection junior Victor Costello, the Crimson Hawks have improved upon last year's early season results as they head into the 2012 PSAC Championships … Costello has paced the team in two of four events, also taking home a fourth place finish overall at California's Marty Uher Invitational to open 2012 … senior Matt Rutt finished third overall at that meet and has been a consistent top-four finisher for IUP this year while sophomores Ray Ofman and Tim Lynch will also look to compete on Saturday … As a team, IUP is currently ranked eighth in the Atlantic Region.
9.
Mercyhurst – The Lakers will be hoping to improve on their 10th place finish last season at the PSAC Championships ... Mercyhurst was predicted to finish 11th this season in the preseason poll ... Junior Jacob Griffin has posted the best time for the Lakers in every event this season and will be looking to lead Mercyhurst again on Saturday ... Earlier this season, Griffin won the Roberts Wesleyan Invitational, posting a school-record time in an 8K event (25:37) ... Sophomore Paul Schwan has been among the top three Lakers all season and will look to aid Griffin in the team standings ... Also expected to compete for team points will be junior Michael Williamson, junior Robert Higgins and senior Nicholas Stolar ... Freshman Michael Wienczkowski and seniors Domenic Pucella and Nathan Wiest should also be in the hunt.
10.
West Chester - WCU hopes to crack the Top 10 on the men's side as the Golden Rams return three runners from last year's lineup that ran in the PSAC Championships and placed 11th overall … The Rams' top four runners have been separated by less than 45 seconds all year, meaning anyone of the harriers could be the top performer Saturday … Sophomore Zach Musselman, senior captain Sean Sebeck and junior Curran Kneebone are the returning members to the conference championships … Senior Jack Barnett and junior Cody Borders are experienced runners as well.
11.
Bloomsburg - The Huskies will be looking to improve on last year's 12th place finish at the PSAC championships … The Huskies will field a young group of runners with three freshmen and a sophomore among its top seven runners … Leading the Huskies will be junior Quichon Walker, sophomore Kyle Phillips and freshmen Zach Gilliom and Matt Ferry … also expected to compete for scoring positions are Zach Eyer, Luke Shillington and Aaron Lichtenwalter.
12.
Mansfield - Mansfield is coming off their best team performance of the season with an 8th-place finish at the Gettysburg Invite last week ... Sophomore Jesse Jones has been the top performer for the Mountaineers this season with junior Will Mullen right behind him ... Rounding out Mansfield's top five is senior Alex Beard, junior Jake Shedden and freshman Jordan Boothe ... The Mountaineers finished 13th overall at the 2011 PSAC Championships.
13.
Gannon - Gannon has produced a solid fall season with top-four finishes during all five events this year ... the Golden Knights won three of the five events and finished second during another ... Gannon was the team champion at the Gannon/Mercyhurst Invitational, the Penn State Behrend Invitational and the Roberts Wesleyan Invitational ... four different Golden Knights have recorded the team's best time during those five events ... sophomore Brian Svoboda is the only Golden Knight to be the team's best twice ... Also expected to compete for scoring positions are Joseph Wisniewski, C.J. Kennett, Adam Walker, Andy Hellmann and Eric Boring … Gannon has finished 14th during the last two PSAC Championships.
