The No. 15 Shippensburg University men's cross country team made a strong run at the league title on a chilly and grey Saturday at Lamb's Creek in Mansfield, with senior Brayden Burleigh placing second overall to lead five SU scorers among the Top 17 runners, as the Raiders finished in second place at the 2014 PSAC Championships.
 
Shippensburg posted its first runner-up league finish since 2011 by scoring 58 points – 20 behind No. 8-ranked conference champion Lock Haven. SU posted a 28-point cushion over third-place Edinboro, who had two of the Top 5 finishers but saw its fifth-place runner cross the line in 33rd place.
 
California All-American Aaron Dinzeo won the PSAC title by 24 seconds, completing 8,000 meters in 24:18. Dinzeo paced Cal to a fifth-place team finish, while IUP finished fourth.
 
Burleigh used a late kick and strong finish to claim second place overall in 24:42 – one second ahead of Edinboro's Matt Link and two seconds ahead of Lock Haven's Dylan Mountain. For Burleigh, it was his fastest 8K cross country time as a Raider by more than 23 seconds and his first sub-25:00 time with SU. Edinboro's Elliott Martynkiewicz was four-tenths of a second behind Mountain for fifth place.
 
A significant key to Shippensburg's second-place finish was a 34-second personal best for its No. 2 runner on the day, junior Austin McGinley. Fresh off his previous PR set two weeks ago on the Mansfield course, McGinley ran 25:00 for an eighth-place overall finish. It marks a 15-place improvement from his run at last year's conference championships in which he was SU's No. 3 runner.
 
Senior Peter Gelston, running in his fourth conference championship race, used a Paul Galtron-like kick to ultimately achieve his first All-PSAC finish in cross country and a 21-second 8K PR in the process. The All-American steeplechaser placed 15th overall in 25:17; his previous top finish at the PSAC Championships was 28th place last season as SU's No. 5 runner.
 
Sophomore Kieran Sutton and freshman Cole Nissley finished concurrently behind Gelston, leaving them just shy of All-PSAC accolades but with performances that solidified SU's second-place team finish. Sutton ran 16th in 25:19 – a 16-second personal best – while Nissley claimed 17th overall in 25:20 for a five-second PR.
 
SU's No. 6 through No. 8 runners also finished consecutively in 28th through 30th place. Junior Ryan Spangler crossed the finish line in 25:45, while sophomore Braden Bruning had a time of 25:49. Freshman Alex Balla was one second behind Bruning.
 
Junior Chris Mullin ran 42nd in 26:17, while sophomore Harrison Schettler rounded out the Raider contingent with a 47th-place finish in 26:41.
 
In two weeks, SU will head to Slippery Rock for the 2014 NCAA Atlantic Region Championships. The Raiders ran on the Cooper's Lake Campground course back on October 11 in the Mack Cooper Invitational, but the regional race will be SU's first 10K of the year.
 
2. Shippensburg (58 points)
2. Brayden Burleigh 24:42.9
8. Austin McGinley 25:00.6
15. Peter Gelston 25:17.7
16. Kieran Sutton 25:19.8
17. Cole Nissley 25:20.3
28. Ryan Spangler 25:45.4
29. Braden Bruning 25:49.2
30. Alex Balla 25:50.3
42. Chris Mullin 26:17.6
47. Harrison Schettler 26:41.2