The Shippensburg University men’s cross country team expanded its race distance to 8K on Friday night and maintained its efficient early-season pace, as senior Aiden Gonder (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Red Land) won the individual championship and the Raiders claimed the team title with a 17-point score at Kutztown’s Division II/III Challenge on the North Campus Farm course.
SU went 1-2-3-5-6 for the win, with senior Ian Sherlock (Hopewell, Pa./Northern Bedford County) right behind the scoring pack in seventh place to have six Raiders among the Top 7 overall race finishers.
Gonder’s victory was clocked at 26:22, while sophomore Ryan Wolfe (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) finished second in 26:27. Graduate Hayden Hunt (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg Area) was two seconds behind in third place.
Sophomore Garrett Quinan (Stewartstown, Pa./Kennard-Dale) and graduate Nathan Harding (Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) ran in fifth and sixth place respectively to cap the scorers. Quinan’s time was 26:34, while Harding crossed the finish line in 26:36.
Freshman Brennan Wellock (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) and graduate Kevin Wagner (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) each achieved Top 20 finishes. Wellock completed his first collegiate cross country 8K in 27:01, while Wagner was 16th in 27:21.
Shippensburg returns to action next weekend at Dickinson’s Long/Short Invitational, which is held in Newville at Big Spring High School.
Shippensburg (1st, 17 points)
1. Aiden Gonder 26:22.3
2. Ryan Wolfe 26:27.2
3. Hayden Hunt 26:29.9
5. Garrett Quinan 26:34.3
6. Nathan Harding 26:36.2
7. Ian Sherlock 26:42.9
11. Brennan Wellock 27:01.8
16. Kevin Wagner 27:21.8
41. Luke Hinegardner 28:56.7
44. Jake Lawson 29:15.5
46. Jackson Gutekunst 29:23.9
