The Shippensburg University men's cross country team won its third consecutive NCAA Atlantic Region Championship on Saturday, with sophomore Rob Moser becoming the first Raider to win the individual championship in 37 years, highlighting a banner SU day in a 10,000-meter (10K) race at Lock Haven University's West Branch Course.
 
Shippensburg won its fourth regional championship overall (all in the last eight years), securing the team's seventh NCAA National Championships appearance in the last eight years under head coach Steve Spence. SU will be making its 20th NCAA National Championships appearance overall when it travels in two weeks to Indiana.
 
Two weeks ago, Shippensburg edged Edinboro by 19 points at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships. On Saturday, the Raiders posted a 31-point victory over the Fighting Scots, as SU's scorers all finished among the Top 16 to earn All-Region classifications. IUP totaled 83 points to comfortably earn the third and final nationals bid from the region.
 
Moser battled Edinboro senior Austin Pondel, the 2017 PSAC individual champion, for most of the second half of Saturday's 10K battle. A surge down the stretch helped Moser (30:51) defeat Pondel (30:52) by just one second, giving Shippensburg its first individual regional champion since Gregg Sanders back in 1980.
 
It is the second straight All-Region finish for Moser, who placed 17th last year as a freshman. Moser, running just his third collegiate cross country 10K, took advantage of the relatively flat and fast Lock Haven course to improve his PR by 2:35.
 
Senior Alex Balla posted his third consecutive Top 5 finish at a regional championship meet, an outstanding accomplishment for the Raider veteran. Balla finished third overall Saturday, just four seconds behind Pondel – to match his third-place finish of last season. He placed fifth as a sophomore in 2015.
 
Senior Calvin Conrad-Kline keeps getting it done, coming through with an exceptional fifth-place finish Saturday in 31:02. It's the best overall finish at the regional championships for Conrad-Kline and the third straight All-Region performance for the senior, who placed 11th last season and ninth as a sophomore in 2015.
 
Junior Dominic Stroh, who has been battling through injury for much of the season, returned this weekend and completed his fourth collegiate 10K in splendid fashion. Stroh crossed the line 10th in 31:43 – giving Shippensburg four Top 10 finishers. It is Stroh's second All-Region effort; he finished 11th in 2015.   
 
Fellow junior Sean Weidner, himself having battled through ailments this season, gutted out a strong 16th-place finish in 31:57 for his second consecutive All-Region performance. Weidner placed 15th last year running for Lock Haven.
 
SU's No. 6 and No. 7 runners were making their regional collegiate 10K debuts and performed admirably. Sophomore Connor Holm, whose specialty track distance ranges from 800-1,500 meters, finished 27th in Saturday's 10K – just two spots shy of an All-Region classification. Holm ran 32:32, while Iatarola finished 44th in 32:57.
 
The 2017 NCAA Division II National Championships will be held Saturday, Nov. 18 in Evansville, Indiana.
 
Shippensburg (1st, 35 points)
1. Rob Moser 30:51.4
3. Alex Balla 30:56.7
5. Calvin Conrad-Kline 31:02.2
10. Dominic Stroh 31:43.3
16. Sean Weidner 31:57.5
27. Connor Holm 32:32.1
44. Brian Iatarola 32:57.9