PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Slippery Rock University will host the 2018 NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Cross Country Championships Saturday at the Bob O'Connor Golf Course at Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
 
The regional meet will decide which teams and individuals from the Atlantic Region will qualify for the NCAA Division II National Championships, which will be hosted by Slippery Rock on these same courses Dec. 1.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP HOMEPAGE
• SRU Event Homepage
 
COURSE INFORMATION / DIRECTIONS
• Location: Bob O'Connor Golf Course at Schenley Park (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
• GPS Address:  5370 Schenley Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
• Google Directions

PARKING
• Street parking is available on Schenley Drive, Darlington Drive and West Circuit

COURSE MAPS
• Men's 10,000-meter Course  |  Winner will set course record
• Women's 6,000-meter Course  |  Course record: 21:54 (Leah Hanle, Mount Olive)

SCHEDULE
• 10:30 a.m. – Men's 10,000m Championship
• 11:30 a.m. – Women's 6,000m Championship
• Approximately 12:30 p.m. – Awards Ceremony
 
LIVE COVERAGE
• Twitter (video snippets, photos, awards and results updates as available)
• Results Page (results will be posted shortly after each race finishes)
 
NATIONAL QUALIFYING PROCEDURE
The top three teams in both races will automatically qualify to compete in the NCAA Division II National Championships. All individual runners that place in the top five, regardless of their team, will automatically earn a spot in the national field. If runners in the top five are already members of a team that earns a spot, the first three finishers not on a qualified team will earn a trip to nationals. This year there is also a possibility that teams or individuals beyond the automatic qualifiers can earn an at large bid. Those additional selections will be announced by the NCAA selection committee on Monday, Nov. 19.
 
ALL-REGION HONOREES
The top 25 individual finishers in each race will be recognized as All-Region honorees during the awards ceremony following the women's race. The All-Region honors are presented by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
 
MEN'S TEAM PREVIEW
Edinboro enters the regional meet as the top ranked team in the region and the favorite to capture the team title after placing second one year ago. The Fighting Scots won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title two weeks ago by 14 points over Shippensburg.
 
The Raiders will be looking to repeat as regional champions after claiming the crown last year. Shippensburg looks like near lock for a top three spot in the team race. Mountain East Conference champion Charleston enters the meet ranked second in the region and is looking to break up the PSAC stronghold on the national qualifiers.
 
Behind those three squads, a trio of PSAC teams make up a group that has the best shot at pulling an upset and moving up into the top three. Lock Haven, Kutztown and Indiana (Pa.) were placed third through fifth at the PSAC meet and enter this week ranked fourth through sixth in the region. Slippery Rock, West Chester, East Stroudsburg and Bloomsburg round out the top 10 in the regional rankings and should all be strong contenders for top 10 finishes, where they will likely be joined by MEC runner-up Concord.
 
MEN'S REGIONAL RANKINGS
1. Edinboro (PSAC Champion)
2. Charleston (MEC Champion)
3. Shippensburg
4. Lock Haven
5. Kutztown
6. Indiana (Pa.)
7. Slippery Rock
8. West Chester
9. East Stroudsburg
10. Bloomsburg
 
MEN'S INDIVIDUAL PREVIEW
The only runner that finished in the top seven last year and returns this year is the defending champion Robert Moser from Shippensburg. Moser has been inconsistent this year and is coming off a 22nd place finish at the PSAC meet two weeks ago in which he finished outside the five scorers for Shippensburg, which could open the door for a new regional champion. In total, just three of last year's top 15 finishers are back in the field this year.
 
The top returning runner from last year behind Moser is Concord's Jason Weitzel, who has been on form this fall and is coming off winning the MEC individual title two weeks ago by 24 seconds. Weitzel finished in eighth place last year. Behind him, the only other top 15 finisher that is back this year is Shippensburg's Dominic Stroh, who was 10th last year.

While those three will likely factor into the conversation at the front end of the field, they will get company from a host of runners looking for their first top 10 finishes at the regional meet. PSAC champion Josh Coakley from West Chester and runner-up Ryan Clifford from Mansfield should join the mix. Bloomsburg's Nick McGuire and Gannon's Joseph Westrick were third and fourth at the PSAC meet, followed by a trio of runners from Edinboro in Jared Hallow, Ward Ries and Colton Cassel. With the top four finishers at the PSAC meet and the MEC champion all coming from teams not expected to be in the mix for one of the three automatic qualifying spots, it could make for a thrilling race for the three to five individual automatic qualifying spots. We could even end up with a situation where the top five runners in the race all come from teams that finish outside the top three.
 
SRU MEN'S LINEUP
Slippery Rock will send Josh Rader, Daniel Janyska, John Marenkovic, Andrew Maxwell, Trenton Yoder, Noah Yake and Tim Ferguson to the competition. Rader has been the top finisher for SRU in every meet this season and is coming off a 32nd place showing at the PSAC meet, where he was followed closely by Janyska and Marenkovic with a gap of just 11 seconds separating The Rock's top three.
 
WOMEN'S TEAM PREVIEW
The women's team race appears as if it will be dominated by the PSAC, as the top 10 teams in the latest set of regional rankings all come from the PSAC. The race for the top spot should be a thrilling battle between Shippensburg and Edinboro, the two teams that have swapped positions at the top of the regional rankings all season.
 
Shippensburg edged Edinboro on the Scots' home course by four points for the PSAC title two weeks ago and will be looking to reclaim supremacy in the region. The top three teams in the region are likely to remain unchanged from last year, when Edinboro won the region, followed by Shippensburg and California (Pa.).
 
The Vulcans didn't have the firepower to challenge the top two teams at the PSAC meet two weeks ago, but appear to have a gap over the rest of the region for the third spot.
 
Behind those three, the rest of the top 10 in the regional rankings are Seton Hill, Lock Haven, Kutztown, Slippery Rock, West Chester, Mercyhurst and Clarion.
 
WOMEN'S REGIONAL RANKINGS
1. Shippensburg (PSAC Champion)
2. Edinboro
3. California (Pa.)
4. Seton Hill
5. Lock Haven
6. Kutztown
7. Slippery Rock
8. West Chester
9. Mercyhurst
10. Clarion
 
WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL PREVIEW
Much like the men's race, only three women that placed in the top 15 at last year's regional meet return this year. The region will crown a new champion as the top three finishers from last year and five of the top six were seniors. The top returning finisher from last year is Edinboro's Stefanie Parsons, who placed fourth in her regional debut last year. Parsons was the third finisher on her own squad two weeks ago at the PSAC meet, placing 16th. Shippensburg's Jacqueline Kinkead was 10th last year and California's Alyson Pierce was 12th last year to cap the only runners that placed in the top 15 in 2017.
 
Of those three, Pierce has shown the best form this season and comes into the regional after a second place finish at the PSAC meet, where she was topped only by her teammate Alicia Belko. Belko enters the weekend as the favorite for the individual title after winning the PSAC meet two weeks ago by 33 seconds. She transferred into California (Pa.) this year from Stockton (N.J.), where she was an All-American and a two-time national championship qualifier in cross country.
 
Behind Belko, others expected to join Pierce in the battle for top individual finishes include Seton Hill's Skye Christian, Lock Haven's Laurel Moyer, Bloomsburg's Morgan Ilgenfritz, Shippensburg's Natalee Serwatka and Isabella Marchini, Edinboro's Hope Pietrocarlo and Abbey Lang and Slippery Rock's Sabrina Palmieri.
 
With California, Edinboro and Shippensburg likely to qualify in the team race, it should make for a thrilling competition for the top three individual finishers that are not on one of those teams. Christian, Moyer, Ilgenfritz and Palmieri were the top four finishers at the PSAC meet that did not come from one of those squads, while Clarion's Kayce Bobnar and Kutztown's Stephanie Bresadola weren't that far behind.
 
SRU WOMEN'S LINEUP
Slippery Rock will send Sabrina Palmieri, Kacey Raible, Jill Norris, Julianna Stevens, Emily Johnson, Madison Przicina and Hannah Kenawell to the competition. Palmieri is coming off a 10th place finish at the PSAC meet two weeks ago and will have a legitimate shot at qualifying for nationals with a strong performance. Raible has been impressive all season and showed great form two weeks ago to earn her first career All-PSAC finish with a 19th place showing at the PSAC meet. A repeat performance could give SRU two All-Region runners.
 
RESULTS AND PHOTOS
• Results Page
• Men's Photo Gallery  |  Women's Photo Gallery

Results will be compiled by Run High Timing Services and will be posted to the Run High website shortly after the conclusion of each race. Results will also be posted to the SRU championship homepage as soon as possible after the conclusion of the awards ceremony. The photo gallery links above will be populated with images from the races and awards ceremony as soon as possible Saturday afternoon.
 


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