The Shippensburg University women's cross country team produced its best finish at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships in six years on Saturday, as five all-conference runners contributed to a team score of 88 points and the second-place "red" trophy in morning competition at Kutztown's 6K Farm Course.
 
Shippensburg ran a composed race and closed strong over the final 3,000 meters to edge East Stroudsburg by just three points to claim the second-place trophy. Slippery Rock scored 70 points for an 18-point victory margin over the Raiders.
 
SU's finish was its best since winning the 2018 PSAC championship and also marked the first time since that season that the Raiders had multiple All-PSAC First Team (Top 15) finishers.
 
Leading the way for Shippensburg was freshman Ella Hartel – who delivered a seventh-place finish in a time of 22:49.8. Hartel, who served as SU's No. 1 runner for the first time this season, gained five places over the second half of the race to finish as the Raider pacesetter.
 
Graduate Kelsey Hull, one of five Raiders running at the PSAC Championships for the third time, stepped up with a huge 11th-place finish in a time of 22:59.1. It is the first All-PSAC First Team finish of her career and second All-PSAC run overall (29th in 2022); her Saturday performance marked an improvement by 42 places from last season.
 
Senior Victoria Mattioli, also in her third career conference championships race, battled to an impressive 17th-place finish in 23:17. Mattioli's courageous run marked the first All-PSAC finish of her career and was an improvement of 15 places from last season.
 
SU's No. 4 scorer was junior Livi Rieck, who finished 24th with a time of 23:29.5. It is the third consecutive All-PSAC finish for Rieck, who was ninth last year and 23rd in 2022.
 
Junior Katy Todd, another of the Raiders in her third go-round at the league championships, made Saturday her best conference meet yet. Todd finished 29th in 23:37.2 to earn her first career All-PSAC classification. It is a huge improvement of 32 places from her previous PSAC best last season.
 
Freshman Victoria Bartholomew was the team's No. 6 runner, crossing the line in 32nd place just on the outside of the All-PSAC finishing window. Her time was 23:41.5. Freshman Shaela Kruskie (54th place, 24:19.6) and junior Morgan Hess (58th place, 24:26.1) cracked the Top 60.
 
Shippensburg entered the weekend fourth in the USTFCCCA's Atlantic Region rankings, with Slippery Rock at No. 2 and Edinboro at No. 3. The Fighting Scots finished eighth in the race. East Stroudsburg was situated at fifth in the rankings.
 
Host Kutztown finished fourth in Saturday's conference championship race, 31 points behind the Warriors.
 
Shippensburg returns to action in two weeks at the 2024 NCAA Atlantic Region Championships hosted by Lock Haven at the West Branch Course.
 
Shippensburg (2nd, 88 points)
7. Ella Hartel 22:49.8
11. Kelsey Hull 22:59.1
17. Victoria Mattioli 23:17.0
24. Livi Rieck 23:29.5
29. Katy Todd 23:37.2
32. Victoria Bartholomew 23:41.5
54. Shaela Kruskie 24:19.6
58. Morgan Hess 24:26.1
62. Ella Smith 24:32.6
67. Brooke Miller 24:39.0
72. Caleigh Vincent 24:41.5
107. Leah Moffitt 25:40.9
 

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