The Shippensburg University women's cross country team heads to Lock Haven this weekend for the 2025 NCAA Atlantic Region Championships. The 6K race at the West Branch Course is set to start at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
 
Live coverage of the race, a course map, parking details and more information related to the championships is available by clicking on the blue 2025 ATLANTIC REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS HOME PAGE button above.
 
This is the second straight year that Lock Haven is hosting the Atlantic Region Cross Country Championships. The order of the races is reversed from last year, with the women taking to the course first this year. The men will follow at 11:45 a.m.
 
In its last competition, Shippensburg finished seventh at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships. Three Raiders – Mya Trotty (11th place), Livi Rieck (23rd place) and Victoria Bartholomew (25th place) earned All-PSAC finishes.
 
Rieck and Bartholomew are the only runners returning from last year's regional championships lineup. It will be the fourth career regional meet for Rieck – a two-time All-Region finisher. Bartholomew was the team's No. 6 runner at regionals last season. Trotty will be among five Raiders expected to make their regional championships debut.
 
It has been a tough season for Shippensburg, as various adversities have prevented several runners from competing and the lineup from being in its optimal form.
 
"The women's team has been bitten by the injury bug this year, as well as at least a half dozen of them who have dealt with low iron," head coach Steve Spence said. "Those injuries and issues resulted in several individuals who I anticipated would be among our top runners to lose their entire season."  
 
That said, the Raiders who have competed this year have put forth an excellent effort, with many being in just their first or second collegiate seasons.
 
"We ran well at the PSAC meet to place seventh," Spence said. "They worked very hard and as a group took their training to the next level and posted many PR performances. The team's place-finish shows how one or two runners make a huge difference."
 
Unlike the PSAC Championships and all prior competitions to this point, only seven runners will toe the line for each team at the Regional Championships. With five of those seven runners ultimately serving as scorers for their team, it will be vital for each competitor to deliver their utmost effort to support their squad.
 
"Our expectations are to run our best race of the season, record a lot of PRs on the fast Lock Haven course, and to improve upon our PSAC performance," Spence said. "We'll be a little more aggressive in the early stages of the race and see if we can hang on."
 
The Top 3 teams in Saturday's race earn a qualification to the NCAA Division II National Championships.
 
Shippensburg is seeking its first NCAA Division II National Championships berth since 2018. The team has won eight regional championships in its history (1996, 1997, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016).
 
Shippensburg's Projected Lineup:
The Raiders will field a lineup of seven runners, with the most likely candidates being:
 
• Sophomore Victoria Bartholomew (Danville, Pa./Danville)
[58th place [No. 6] in 2024]
 
• Freshman Abby Gehris (Reading, Pa./Tulpehocken)
[slated to make regionals debut]
 
• Sophomore Kira Logiovine (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn)
[slated to make regionals debut]
 
• Sophomore Brooke Miller (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus)
[slated to make regionals debut]
 
• Senior Livi Rieck (Fayetteville, Pa./Chambersburg Area Career Magnet)
[2-time USTFCCA All-Region: DNF in 2024; 19th place [No. 1] in 2023; 20th place [No. 1] in 2022]
 
• Freshman Mya Trotty (Parkesburg, Pa./Octorara Area)
[slated to make regionals debut]
 
• Sophomore Caleigh Vincent (Gap, Pa./Pequea Valley)
[slated to make regionals debut]
 
The likely alternate runner would be freshman Anna Schaeffer (Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Schuylkill Haven Area) or senior Morgan Hess (Huntingdon, Pa./Juniata Valley). Hess competed in the 2023 regional and finished 84th as SU's No. 7 runner in that race.
 
Shippensburg at the NCAA Atlantic Region Championships:
(last eight championship meets)
2024: 5th, 156 points (18-19-20-51-56)
2023: 5th, 204 points (19-29-39-53-68)
2022: 7th, 198 points (20-24-31-65-69)
2021: 9th, 233 points (16-21-28-76-97)
2020: No championships
2019: 10th, 275 points (21-28-69-78-79)
2018: 3rd, 96 points (6-9-24-25-32)
2017: 2nd, 95 points (10-13-23-26-28)
2016: 1st, 57 points (1-6-13-18-21)
 
NCAA Championships Qualification:
 
TEAM: The Top 3 teams in the standings will earn automatic qualification to the NCAA National Championships (Nov. 22 in Wisconsin)
 
INDIVIDUAL: The Top 2 individual finishers from teams not among the Top 3 in the standings will earn automatic qualification to the NCAA National Championships (each of the race's Top 5 individual finishers earn automatic qualification to the NCAA National Championships, regardless of team.)
 
ALL-REGION: The Top 25 individual finishers will earn USTFCCCA All-Atlantic Region honors.