MANSFIELD, Pa. - The Shippensburg University men's cross country program completed its marvelous season-long crescendo on Saturday morning from the Lambs Creek Course in Mansfield by stunning the onlookers with its most brilliant performance to date, scoring a sensational 39 points to win its first NCAA Atlantic Region Championship in program history.

The evidence had been in place for such a showing throughout the entire 2009 season, especially after last weekend at the PSAC Championships from Edinboro where Shippensburg was the only school to have six all-conference runners and nine runners among the Top 30.

On Saturday, the Red Raider harriers placed all five of their scoring performers among the Top 13 finishers to bestow each gentleman with USTFCCCA All-Region honors. Shippensburg's pack averaged its first mile in approximately 4:20 and never ceased its drive or momentum over the course of the historic outing.

Junior Bryan Beegle, a fearless competitor who has battled injury all season, posted his best career place to date at the regional championships with a third-place effort in 31:26. His average mile was 5:04, and his final time on Saturday was 38 seconds faster than his previous turn on the 10K course back in September.

Junior Ethan Rissell, who last season finished just one place away from a regional award, ran at a relentless pace and never relinquished his burst throughout the entire race. Rissell finished sixth overall with a time of 31:53, a 48-second improvement from earlier this season, while posting an average mile of 5:09.

Sophomore Stephen Schelander, last year's PSAC Men's Cross Country Rookie of the Year, matched Rissell's average mile split and improved his showing by 29 places from his freshman season. Schelander finished in eighth place, posting a time of 31:57 that stands as the best effort in the field from a sophomore runner.

Freshman Matt Gillette was the team's top performer at last week's conference meet and etched another tenet for his storybook debut season with the Red Raiders by finishing ninth overall. Gillette crossed the finish line just three seconds behind Schelander (32:00) and was the field's second fastest freshman behind IUP's Hillary Mugun.

Fellow freshman Ed Buck, who thrust himself into the spotlight three weeks ago at Gettysburg, harnessed his potential with another solid performance and rounded out the SU scorers by completing the course in 13th place with a time of 32:12. Both Buck and Gillette have earned All-PSAC and All-Region honors as freshmen.

Not to be lost among the scoring performances is the effort of junior Sean Stetler, who finished just one place short of becoming SU's sixth all-region runner. Stetler's 16th-place turn in 32:21 featured an average split of 5:13 and his performance was 14 spots better than any other No. 6 runner on Saturday.

Redshirt junior Josh Neyhart had another strong performance and was the No. 7 runner for Shippensburg with a time of 32:51 in 26th place. Neyhart may have ranked seventh among the Red Raiders, but he would have ranked as the top runner for 12 of the 21 teams in the field and would have scored for 18 of the other competing institutions. 

Head coach Steve Spence has once again masterfully guided the program on the strength of his excellent foundation and the seemingly limitless depth that his team boasts. Saturday's historic regional championship marks the first time in program history that the entire scoring field for Shippensburg finished the day with all-region certificates.

Last season, Shippensburg was the only regional program to place seven runners in the Top 50 at the NCAA Atlantic Region Championships and they achieved that feat with a field that consisted entirely of freshmen and sophomores. Each one of those runners returned to the team this season and most of them were among the historic pack that ran this weekend.

The weather on Saturday was something out of a storybook, with sunny skies soaking the park and temperatures hovering in the high 40s. The Red Raiders had faced adverse conditions in their three previous group meets, including standing water last week at Edinboro, mud at Gettysburg and tundra at Lock Haven.

Next, the Red Raiders will run at the Division II National Championships on November 21 from the campus of Southern Indiana University. The men's meet is set to start at 1 PM.