The Shippensburg University men's cross country team placed third in the team standings Friday morning at the 2019 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships, closing the 8K race strong in competition at Bloomsburg University.
 
Of the 11 men to cross the finish line for the Raiders, eight are freshmen and three are sophomores. Three Raiders achieved All-PSAC accolades.
 
Chayce Macknair was the top freshman in the field and served as SU's No. 1 runner. Macknair finished 11th in 26:04 to earn All-PSAC First Team accolades. It is the best finish by an SU freshman at the PSAC Championships in 10 years, since Matt Gillette placed ninth in 2009. His race was incredibly consistent, with his place never deviating beyond 10th through 12th place through all five of the timing checkpoints.
 
Freshman Andrew Foster also continued to impress, posting All-PSAC Second Team honors with a 19th-place time of 26:23. The fourth-fastest freshmen in the field, Foster was in 35th place through 3K before closing the gap over the final 5K.
 
Redshirt-sophomore Nate Kaplon earned his second consecutive All-PSAC classification. Kaplon, a First Team honoree last season, claimed Second Team honors with a 25th-place finish in 26:30.
 
Freshman AJ Plowman and sophomore Joshua Jackson each impressed with Top-40 finishes. Plowman delivered his third scoring performance of the season, serving as the No. 4 runner with a 35th-place time of 26:53. Jackson ran 39th in 26:56 to round out the SU scorers; he improved 11 places from his conference debut last season.
 
Numerous Raiders closed strong over the final 3K, among them freshman Drew Dailey. Despite sitting 64th through 5K, Dailey closed the final 3K in 10:05 to finish 43rd overall in 27:06. Freshman Nathan Harding was 93rd through the 3K timing mark before making it all the way into down into the Top 70, finishing 69th in 27:41.
 
Freshman Joey Bujdos III finished 63rd in 27:31; he made his biggest surge early in the race and was 45th through 3K.
 
Shippensburg mostly operated in a pack mentality for much of the race. The Raiders have now finished among the Top 3 in the PSAC standings for seven consecutive years.
 
Shippensburg returns to action in two weeks for the NCAA Atlantic Region Championships hosted by Lock Haven.
 
Shippensburg (3rd, 128 points)
11. Chayce Macknair 26:04
19. Andrew Foster 26:23
25. Nate Kaplon 26:30
35. AJ Plowman 26:53
39. Joshua Jackson 26:56
43. Drew Dailey 27:06
63. Joey Bujdos III 27:31
69. Nathan Harding 27:41
80. Alexander Ermold 28:06
82. Andrew Feldman 28:07
99. Joey Cintavey 28:39
Kevin Wagner DNF