The Shippensburg University men’s cross country team, ranked No. 9 in Division II, positioned nine runners among the Top 16 finishers on a sticky, humid Friday night to claim first place in the 2014 Galen E. Piper Alumni Open/Cross Country Challenge and the snap the three-year winning streak of the Raider alumni.

SU’s men scored 33 points to re-take possession of the team trophy — a wooden owl sculpture. The Alumni finished second with 54 points. Dickinson, ranked No. 15 in the NCAA Division III poll, took third place with a solid 67-point showing.

More than 140 runners took to the course that now loops around the campus’s recreation fields. The conditions were not ideal, however, as warm temperatures and rampant humidity slowed the field.
Matt Gillette ’13 claimed his second individual title in three years, winning by six seconds in 19:06. He previously won as an SU runner in 2012. Two other alumni cracked the Top 10, as Stephen “Go-Go” Schelander ’12 finished third in 19:16 and Sean Stetler ’11 ran 19:34 in seventh place.

Heading into 2014, one of the endearing qualities of the SU men’s squad was its capability of featuring a top runner and a very strong pack right behind him. After one race, the likelihood seems strong that such a formula could play out again this season.

Senior Brayden Burleigh crossed the finish line in second place for the second straight year, posting a sturdy time of 19:12 to once again pace his team. Burleigh was SU’s No. 1 runner in all six of the races he completed last season.

Junior Chris Mullin ran a 34-second 6K PR to make a statement Friday night, claiming fifth place overall while serving as SU’s No. 2 runner. Mullin, fresh off an All-PSAC performance in the steeplechase during the out- door track season, was SU’s No. 7 runner at the national championships last season.

Save for a Dickinson runner’s 14th-place time, Shippensburg had seven consecutive runners cross the finish line: sophomore Kieran Sutton (ninth), sophomore Braden Bruning (10th), sophomore Harrison Schettler (11th), freshman Cole Nissley (12th), sophomore Alec Brand (13th), junior Austin McGinley (15th) and freshman JD Groff (16th). It was an impressive feat, as all seven men finished within 10 seconds of one another.

Sutton, SU’s No. 5 runner at last year’s regional championships, improved 17 seconds from his 18th-place finish last season. Bruning returned after a year away from cross-country with a 72-second improvement from his 2012 debut 6K. Schettler, SU’s No. 5 runner at nationals last year, improved his 6K PR by 12 seconds. Brand knocked 23 seconds off his 2013 6K cross-country time, while McGinley ran 75 seconds faster than his inaugural 2012 race.

Nissley and Groff paced the Raider newcomers. Nissley was the second-fastest freshman in the field, while Groff was just five second behind as the third-fastest freshman. Calvin Conrad-Kline, who debuted after redshirting in 2013, ran 19:55 in 18th place.

SU returns to action Saturday, Sept. 20 at Dickinson for the Long/Short Invitational.

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