Men's Race Results

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The Shippensburg University men's cross country program had eight of its runners place among to the Top 15 finishers at Saturday's 8K Gettysburg Invitational to convincingly win the meet with an impressive performance amidst constant rain and chilly conditions.

Overall, the Red Raiders continue to increase their depth in advance of the PSAC Championships in two weeks while improving their conditioning and erasing additional seconds off several season-best times. The majority of the top runners for Shippensburg were directed to complete a controlled effort during the race by running strong for select portions while easing into a workout during the midway portion.

Given free rein to race for the duration however was freshman Ed Buck, who capitalized on the opportunity with a third-place finish and a season-best time of 26:32.02. Buck, a transfer from Kansas State who has battled throughout the season, eliminated all distractions and made a strong case to be among the team's runners at the conference championships.

Sophomore Stephen Schelander led the main Raider pack to finish in fourth place, five seconds behind Buck with a time of 26:37.13. In the same group with Schelander was freshman Matt Gillette (5th place; 26:40.81) and junior Sean Stetler (6th place; 26:42.07).

A second pack of Raider runners also performed admirably and contributed to the scoring group for Shippensburg. Junior Ethan Rissell finished in eighth place with a time of 26:53.39 while sophomore Brandon Boyer was two seconds behind in ninth place. Junior Josh Neyhart posted his strongest outing of the season for the Raiders with a solid time of 26:58.72 in 12th place.

Junior Jake Sitler was the last member of the team among the Top 15 finishers with a time of 27:04.37, while sophomore Eric Evans was a few hundredths of one second behind him in 16th place. Junior Bryan Beegle completed a workout during his performance and exercised caution while navigating the treacherous course yet still placed 29th overall with a time of 27:27.28.

From a scoring standpoint, Shippensburg finished with 26 points while second-place Susquehanna University was 71 points behind.

Shippensburg will send a contingent next weekend to compete in the Battle for the Buggy, hosted by Millersville University and Elizabethtown College. The event will be a 6K invitational held at Lancaster County Central Park in Lancaster with the men's race scheduled to begin at 11:15 a.m.