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 15 women's teams competing at the championship are provided below, listed in order of the team finishes from 2011.
1.
Shippensburg - No. 8 Shippensburg team hopes to make it five consecutive PSAC championships this weekend and brings an extremely deep lineup into the meet … Senior Katie Spratford seeks her first individual title after finishing as the runner-up a season ago to Neely Spence … Spratford, a two-time All-American, aced her run at this year's Paul Short Invite, finishing 21st in a race loaded with Division I talent … Junior Stephanie Pryor was 20th at last year's regional meet running for Seton Hill … Senior Amanda Raudabaugh has transitioned well from 800 meters on the track to a cross country 6K, running an impressive 22:02 at the Paul Short meet this season … Junior Emma Shank should also be among the lead Raiders and is fresh off a Top 10 finish last week at Gettysburg. Last year's PSAC Rookie of the Year April Schlusser is joined by fellow sophomores Heather Weiss and Caitlin Perry as returners from last year's lineup along with senior Katie Wiechelt.
2.
Edinboro - Edinboro, ranked 11th in Division II, looks for its 16th overall PSAC crown, but first since 2008 … The Fighting Scots have finished second the last two years … Doug Watts is in his 43rd year as the head coach … senior Kacey Gibson is Edinboro's lone returning All-PSAC runner after finishing 12th in her first PSAC Championship last year … She would go on to earn All-Region accolades, as well … Gibson comes off a first place performance at the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble, as the Fighting Scots won their second competition of the year … They previously won the title at the Daniel Walker Invitational, with Gibson capturing second place … transfer Sarah Krolick competed at Roberts Wesleyan a year ago … The junior took second place at the American Mideast Conference Championships, then placed third at the NCCAA National Championships … She would end the year with a 44th place finish at the NAIA National Championships.
3.
Lock Haven - Lock Haven has turned it on as of late and looks poised for a solid effort this weekend … Last year the Lady Eagles turned in one of their best PSAC performances in recent history, finishing third overall after a pair of Haven runners took home All-Conference honors … Erin Craig, Laura Histand and Corina Robbins all have plenty of big meet experience and will look to lead Lock Haven … Last weekend at Gettysburg, the Lady Eagles were led by Jessica McDonald, who was 20th overall in the 394-runner field … She covered the 6K course in 23:23.
4.
Bloomsburg – The Huskies are looking to improve on last year's fourth place finish at the PSAC Championships … The Huskies are ranked 19th this season by the USTFCCA NCAA Division II national rankings and fourth in the Atlantic Region … The Huskies are coming off a first place finish at the Jack Saint Clair Invitational two weeks ago … Vicki Davis, who finished fourth last year at PSAC's, won all four of her races this season, including the Paul Short Brown race … Also running well this season for Bloomsurg are Lauren Lehman, Lauren Bond, Kelsey Harm, Courtney Werner, Katie Filemyr and Shelby Pealer.
5.
Mansfield - The Mountaineers return two All-PSAC athletes from last season in sisters Jess and Kristy Scordino who finished 14th and 15th respectively at the 2011 PSAC Championships ... The Scordinos helped Mansfield to a best-ever fifth place team finish at last season's conference meet ... Junior Savannah Boucher, the 2011 NJCAA cross country national champion at Mohawk C.C., rounds out a solid top three for the Mounties ... Completing a strong pack is sophomore Amy Lee and senior Kristen Von Bevern ... Mansfield is ranked eighth in the Atlantic region.
6.
Slippery Rock - SRU is looking to improve on an uncharacteristic sixth-place showing from last season ... The Rock has improved all fall and comes into the meet having won its last two invitationals and has not placed lower than second in the team standings in any race this season ...
Stephanie Case has been the PSAC Athlete of the Week twice out of four races and has been dominant, winning every meet entered this year by at least 16 seconds ... All-Region runners Case and
Kara Styles look to lead SRU, while a strong pack will compete for the final scoring places. That pack includes
Abby Michaelian,
Janine Powis,
Karly Knechtel,
Brittany Fagan,
Jordan Hausladen and
Shannon Byerly. The Rock is currently ranked seventh in the region.
7.
East Stroudsburg - ESU was seventh last year and brings back four of five scorers, led by seniors Rose Mascoli (2010 All-American) and Corinne Fitzgerald (2011 national qualifier) … Fitzgerald was 6th in the PSAC and 5th in the Region last year … she has led ESU at all four meets, including 2nd at Fordham, 3rd at Kutztown, 5th at the Paul Short Run and 1st at Hamilton on Oct. 6 … Mascoli has been no more than 7 seconds behind Fitzgerald in all four meets and was 5th in the PSAC and 8th in the Region last year … juniors Kim Wernerspach (19th last year) and Kim Lowry (74th) should run third and fourth … freshmen Chelsea Conover, Melanie Riley and Abby Ross have all scored this fall.
8.
Indiana (Pa.) - With a multitude of experienced runners returning, the Crimson Hawks have thrived so far this season with two team wins in four total events … That success has skyrocketed IUP up the polls, entering the USTFCCCA national rankings at No. 24 back on October 3… Leading the way is junior Steph Beaudette, who took home the individual title at California's Marty Uher Invitational and has an additional top-five finish and two top-15 finishes this year … Senior Alyssa Taddie finished second at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational and has three top-15 finishes while junior Samantha Thompson has finished in the top-10 twice … The Crimson Hawks are currently ranked 18th in Division II and third in the Atlantic Region.
9.
West Chester - WCU turns to freshman Amanda Eisman to lead the Golden Rams on Saturday in her first college conference meet … The local product from West Chester, Pa., has finished in the Top 10 in every race this fall, including the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University … She is a strong favorite to place in the top five heading into Saturday's meet … West Chester placed ninth at last year's championships, after moving up two spots in two years from both 2010 and 2011. Head coach Andy Huber expects his ladies to move up some more this weekend … Sophomore Brittany Boyer is the only other WCU runner with conference meet experience.
10.
Millersville – Millersville has never won a PSAC title, but has five top-three finishes as a team … This year, the team is led by senior Sarah Mulvey, who raced to the best time of her career last Saturday at the Gettysburg Invitational … She ran a time of 22:59 in the 6K race, which is good for the ninth-fastest time in school history … Mulvey has clocked the team's fastest time in four of the team's six races this fall … Her average finishing place this season has been 23.6 and she won the Millersville/F&M Alumni Open … One freshman that has stepped up for Millersville in 2012 has been Elizabeth Reese … The first-year runner has an average finish of 50.6 and finished 21st in the Gettysburg Invitational with a time of 23:27.
11.
Kutztown - Kutztown will look to improve upon its 11th place finish at the 2011 championships ... The Golden Bears have been ranked as high as 24th this fall in Division II and are currently sixth in the region entering the PSAC meet ... The addition of the Borland twins - Stephanie and Maria - has bolstered the squad as Stephanie has been the team's top runner at each of the three races in which she has run ... Maria has also been a mainstay in Kutztown's top five this season ... Senior Jennifer Cleary was an All-Atlantic Region performer last year and will look to push the Borlands at the front of the KU pack ... Other runners to watch for the Golden Bears include Jayme Daly, who was KU's second finisher at the Paul Short Run, freshman Corinne Manela and Molly MacDonald.
12.
Clarion - Ciara Shorts is a returning All-PSAC and All-Region runner and will look to improve upon the success she had last year when she finished 17th at both races … She would be the first back-to-back all-conference runner for the Golden Eagles since Melissa Terwilliger did it three years in a row from 2002-2004. Shorts is coming off a seventh-place finish at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational ... Milea Schall and Megan Toddy give Clarion to additional all-conference hopes … Both ran strong races in their last outing at CMU with both finishing in the top 40 ... The key to Clarion's team hopes of improving on last season's 12th place PSAC ending rest in the performances of the fourth and fifth runners.
13.
California (Pa.) - Cal U is looking to improve on its 13th-place finish from last year … The Vulcans return all seven runners that competed at the event in 2011 … Junior Erin Kling, the 2009 PSAC Freshman of the Year, was the team's top-finisher in the first three races of the year … Sophomore Alex Zanella led the team at last season's league championships by finishing 27th overall … other top contenders for the Vulcans include Brittany Kanach, Andi Heasley, Carly Youngberg and Brittany Amori.
14.
Mercyhurst - Mercyhurst will be looking to improve on its 14th place finish from a year ago ... Freshman Kenzie Stepanik has been a pleasant surprise this season for the Lakers, pacing Mercyhurst in one event and finishing second among Mercyhurst runners in every other event ... Senior Mary Mancuso led the Lakers at Westfield State two weeks ago and will be looking to build off her success on Saturday ... Sophomore Sara Chuzie, after a strong rookie season last year, has bounced back after a slow start to the season and will be looked upon for a strong finish ... Also vying for scoring positions will be sophomores Amanda Marley and Rebecca Reichbaum, along with juniors Rebecca Wheeling and Anna Polaski.
15.
Gannon - Gannon has finished in the top five during all five events this season, including three runner-up finishes and one team title ... the Lady Knights opened the season with a team championship while hosting the Gannon/Mercyhurst Invitational ... Gannon finished as the runner-up during three consecutive weeks at the Davis & Elkins Invitational, the Penn State Behrend Invitational and the Roberts Wesleyan Invitational ... Gannon is led by a pair of standout freshmen in Veronica Bujdos and Nicole Bubie ... Bubie has been Gannon's top runner three times while Bujdos has finished with the best time twice ... Bujdos won the individual championship at the Gannon/Mercyhurst Invitational and the Penn State Behrend Invitational ... Gannon has finished either 14th or 15th at the last three PSAC Championships.
