LOUISVILLE – The Shippensburg men's cross country team ran an extraordinary race on Saturday afternoon from E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park, as the Raider harriers had all seven of its top runners establish new 8K cross country PRs to finish fifth as a team at the Ninth Annual Greater Louisville Classic.

Saturday's 8K race was held on the same course that will host the Division II national championships this December. Head coach Steve Spence's squad had no fear in racing against some of the best cross country programs in Division I and Division II, proving its mettle as one of the nation's top teams by getting the most out of its runners.

Among the programs bested by the Raiders on Saturday are Georgia, Ole Miss, Southern Ilinois and Missouri. Fellow PSAC institution Edinboro competed in the race and finished 11th, 125 points behind Shippensburg.

Senior Bryan Beegle, as he is wont to do, paced the SU squad as the No. 1 runner. He finished 38th overall and was among the Top 15 Division II finishers, posting a time of 24:34.26 that eclipsed his 8K cross country PR by 23 seconds.

A Red Raider triumvirate finished together in consecutive places, as sophomore Matt Gillette, junior Stephen Schelander and senior Josh Neyhart earned 62nd through 64th-place finishes in 24:47. Gillette set a new 8K cross country PR by a 39-second margin while Neyhart trimmed 55 seconds off his 8K PR and Schelander was four seconds ahead of his best-ever 8K pace that came as SU's No. 1 runner at last year's Paul Short Invitational.

Not to be outdone, senior Sean Stetler entered the fray as SU's No. 5 runner just three seconds and five places behind the SU trio. Stetler, the reigning PSAC champion in the 10K, posted a 69th-place finish in 24:50 that set a new 8K cross country PR by six seconds.

Junior Brandon Boyer, who himself came on strong last season in the 10K, improved his 8K personal-best by 24 seconds with an 83rd-place finish in 24:58. Senior Jake Sitler erased 32 seconds from his previous 8K PR with a time of 25:10, narrowly missing a place among the Top 100 runners.

Seniors Ethan Rissell, Dustin Adams and Matt Gelety rounded out the SU field. Adams eclipsed his previous 8K PR by 46 seconds with a time of 26:22.

In two weeks, Shippensburg will compete in the Gettysburg College Invitational. That 8K meet is set to begin at 11 a.m. On Wednesday, the USTFCCCA will release its latest edition of the national rankings. SU entered this race at No. 10 in Division II.

8K [5th; 273 points]

38. Bryan Beegle (24:34.26)
62. Matt Gillette (24:47.38)
63. Stephen Schelander (24:47.53)
64. Josh Neyhart (24:47.87)
69. Sean Stetler (24:50.01)
83. Brandon Boyer (24:58.82)
102. Jake Sitler (25:10.37)
164. Ethan Rissell (25:39.74)
241. Dustin Adams (26:22.40)
251. Matt Gelety (26:29.36)