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EDINBORO, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's cross country team finished sixth at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships Saturday from the Doug Watts XC Course at Penn West Edinboro.
 
Jennifer Cichra earned first team All-PSAC honors with a top-15 finish and Carissa Flynn and Hannah Burgoon both picked up second team All-PSAC honors for placing inside the top 30.
 
East Stroudsburg and Edinboro tied for the win with 77 points each, forcing a tiebreaker that looks at the head-to-head matchups of the five scoring runners on each team. ESU won that tiebreaker 3-2 with it coming down to the fifth runner with the Warriors fifth runner finishing 27th and the Scots fifth runner finishing 31st. Bloomsburg took third with 103 points, followed by West Chester with 129 points and Kutztown with 134 points to round out the top five.
 
Slippery Rock was sixth with 135 points with the rest of the top 10 being capped by Shippensburg with 162 points, Millersville with 213 points, Gannon with 232 points and Clarion with 276 points.
 
The Rock's chances at winning a third straight PSAC title evaporated before the start when frontrunner Ruthie Hughes was unable to compete due to an injury. Hughes, who finished third at the 2024 PSAC Championships and was the PSAC 10,000-meter champion on the track last spring, is hopeful to return to action at the regional meet in two weeks.
 
Cichra led Slippery Rock for the third straight meet with the best conference performance of her career, finishing in eighth place to earn her second straight first team All-PSAC honor. She covered the 6,000-meter course in 22:59 and improved four spots from her 12th place finish at the 2024 PSAC meet.
 
Flynn picked up her second straight All-PSAC honor in just her sophomore season with a 17th place finish in 23:17. It marked an 11-position improvement for Flynn, who was 28th in her PSAC debut in 2024.
 
Burgoon also picked up her first career All-PSAC honor in cross country with a 21st place finish in 23:27. It marked a 14-position improvement from her 35th place finish in 2024.
 
The Rock's scorers were capped by Lydia Valeriano in 44th place in 24:05 and Gwen Lloyd in 45th place in 24:07.
 
Freshmen Sydney Heltzell (63rd, 24:29) and Kayla Hanna (64th, 24:29) rounded out the top seven finishers for SRU.
 
Slippery Rock will now take a week off to recover before the NCAA Atlantic Region Championships Nov. 8 at Lock Haven.
 
Results for all 12 of The Rock's runners Saturday can be found below.
 
SRU RESULTS – PSAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
8. Jennifer Cichra – 22:59 (1st team All-PSAC)
17. Carissa Flynn – 23:17 (2nd team All-PSAC)
21. Hannah Burgoon – 23:27 (2nd team All-PSAC)
44. Lydia Valeriano – 24:05
45. Gwen Lloyd – 24:07
63. Sydney Heltzell – 24:29
64. Kayla Hanna – 24:29
82. Marabelle Thornberry – 25:06
85. Lexie Wyant – 25:10
95. Tatiana Holt – 25:34
102. Caitlin Willer – 25:41
114. Skye Hackathorn – 26:05
 
 

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