The Shippensburg University’s women’s cross-country team was out for revenge on Saturday after falling to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) rival Edinboro University in the closest finish in conference history.
Edinboro got the better of the Raiders once again, this time in more decisive fashion, but SU’s second-place finish at the Atlantic Regional Championship was one to remember. SU excelled at the 6K Lock Haven University course over the weekend, earning multiple Top 25 finishes.
SU had three runners earn All-Atlantic Region (Top-25) honors in junior Jackie Kinkead, senior Bryanna Dissinger and senior Lizzie Manickas. Kinkead paced SU with a 10th-place finish with a time of 21:40, while Dissinger was three places and three seconds behind. Both Kinkead and Dissinger recorded their top regional finishes, and their second All-Region selections.
Manickas finished 23rd in 21:59, to earn her third All-Region finish in four years. She placed 18th last season, 32nd in 2015 and ninth as a freshman — marking all four of her finishes in the Top 32.
Lydia Cagle finished just one place away from her first All-Region performance, finishing in 26th in 22:09 to improve six positions from last season. Freshman Jenna Robbins rounded out SU’s scorers with a run of 22:18, to finish 28th.
Senior Emily Kachik finished in 36th — an improvement of 26 places from 2015 — with a time of 22:33. Natalee Serwatka rounded out the Raider field, finishing in 60th.
The Raiders earned 95 total points to finish in second-place, while Edinboro took the win with 67 points. California University of Pennsylvania (Cal) had the region’s individual champion in Julie Friend, who finished in 20:36, as well as the third-place finisher in Summer Hill, who covered the course in 21:18. Cal finished third with 112 points to round out the teams advancing to nationals.
With the strong finish, SU earned its 10th-consecutive bid to the Division II National Championships, despite failing to defend its 2016 Atlantic Region title. The Raiders finished in 24th last season in St. Leo, Florida.
SU will head to the Division II Cross-Country Championships on Nov. 18, in Evansville, Indiana.
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