PREVIEW: 2026 Men's Cross Country

9/2/2026 2:00:00 PM

By: Bill Morgal, sports information director

2026 SCHEDULE

2026 ROSTER

The 2026 Men's Cross Country Senior Class

The 2026 MXC Senior Class (L-R: Brennan Wellock, Tommy Crum Jr., Ben Devine, Kyle Baker, Jackson Gutekunst)

The Shippensburg University men's cross country team starts its 2026 campaign at 8 p.m. Friday when it hosts the 16th annual Galen Piper Alumni Open & Challenge at the campus recreation complex.

SU will have four regular-season meets in advance of the 2026 PSAC Championships, which are not held until early November this season due to it being an NCAA Championships Fall Festival year (in which cross country, volleyball, men's soccer, women's soccer and field hockey championships will all be contested the same weekend in December in Kansas City).

It's a fresh start and we've got the whole season ahead of us. You make it what you want to make it, and it's super exciting because it can be anything you want.

Tommy Crum Jr. (R-Junior • Carlisle, Pa. • 2-time All-PSAC First Team and 2-time All-Atlantic Region)

I think it's been coming together great. Preseason week was very helpful in getting to know the three new guys. We've gotten some quality runs in that help to show what the future of the season looks like and what practices look like.

Ben Devine (Senior • Lancaster, Pa. • 2025 All-PSAC First Team and All-Region)

The class breakdown of the 2026 roster is listed below. It is using the “traditional” eligibility model.

Shippensburg is under the direction of head coach Steve Spence, who is in his 29th season leading the Raider distance runners. Spence has guided SU Men's Cross Country to all six of its PSAC Championships and all five of its Atlantic Region Championships achieved in program history.

The Raiders have posted a Top 5 PSAC finish in 27 of Spence's 28 seasons – including a Top 3 finish in 23 of those seasons (six conference titles, 10 second-place finishes, seven third-place finishes).

Our men's team is really dialed in. They had a great summer of training, they're ready to go, and they're understanding how to work through the season so that we can peak at the end when it really counts.

- head coach Steve Spence '85

The thing that we're focused on is consistency. The key is to be able to train at a high level and hold that without stepping over that line. It's contingent a lot on communication and reading their bodies. Mature runners know when they can push and when they need to back off.

- head coach Steve Spence '85

NOTES FOR 2026:

• Shippensburg has taken home a trophy from 10 of the last 11 PSAC Championship meets - having earned five first-place finishes and five second-place finishes.

• The team enters the season with a 13-person roster that includes 10 returning runners and three first-year recruits. Four of SU's six All-PSAC performers from last season are back: Tommy Crum Jr. (fourth place), Ben Devine (eighth place), Ramon Urena (20th place) and Brennan Wellock (24th place).

• Garrett Quinan (second place) and Ryan Wolfe (sixth place) have exhausted their eligibility but remain with the team as student assistant coaches.

• The Raiders were voted atop the PSAC's preseason coaches' poll.

2026 Schedule