The Slippery Rock men’s cross-country team competed in its final regular season meet Saturday at the Mack Cooper Classic.
The race was held at Slippery Rock’s home course, Cooper’s Lake Campground. The team will return to this course in two weeks as SRU holds the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships.
Sophomore Jeremy Parsons led the team finishing in first place out of a total of 109 runners.
Ten complete teams were in attendance Saturday. Walsh took home first with 24 points with SRU following in second with 58 points. Shippensburg University rounded out the top three teams with 70 points.
“The team competed well on Saturday from what I could tell,” Parsons said. “If we could close the gaps between men even a little I think we could have an impact on the PSAC and be in the top three teams. I feel we have the guys to do it, we just have to be more consistent.”
Parsons completed the 8,000 meter course in 25:56, with senior Ryan Thompson following close behind in sixth place with a time of 26:33. Senior Steve Green finished in 26:40 and was the final Rock runner to place in the top 10 in ninth place.
Sophomore Jeff Henderson and senior Theo Reynolds took 18th and 28th with times of 27:01 and 27:25.
Senior Charlie Frank and junior Ryan McGuire finished with times of 27:54 and 28:15.2 snagging 42nd and 51st place.
Freshman Andrew Maxwell and senior Connor MacKelvey were close behind in 52nd and 67th place. Junior Steve Shephard and Josh Aultz were the final two Rock finishers at 67th and 74th place.
“I think our men’s team competed very well this past Saturday,” assistant coach and former Rock runner Janine Powis said. “It is a good warm up to see what the PSAC race will be like. The good thing about our team this season is our middle pack which is rather close during races. This allows them to work together during the race and help push one another. The order of our men’s team has been different every race thus far which shows everyone is improving.”
The Rock will rest this coming weekend and return to competition on Saturday October 24 for the PSAC Championship race at Cooper’s Lake Campground.
The team will be looking to close the gap on top teams like Lock Haven, Shippensburg, Edinboro and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The Rock was chosen to finish fifth in the PSAC in the pre-season coaches poll.
