The Slippery Rock men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Mid-Atlantic Region Championship last weekend in Lock Haven. The meet was comprised of teams from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and from schools in West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware. The men placed 13th in the team standings while the women placed seventh.
Senior Jeremy Parsons highlighted the men’s race, clinching his third consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships when he led the men’s team with a fourth-place finish covering the 10,000-meter course in 31:01. Parsons was only 10 seconds back from the race winner from Shippensburg University, earning his fourth straight All-Region finish.
Next for The Rock was sophomore Daniel Janyska continuing a quality season with a 59th place finish in a time of 33:28, improving off his 81st place finish at the regional championships last year. Following Janyska was junior Josh Rader finishing 79th in a time of 34:05.
Junior Andrew Maxwell was 96th in 34:58 and sophomore Jared Nelson was 97th in 35:00 to cap the five scorers.
Freshman Jon Snyder was 116th in 36:25 and freshman Tanner Schlater was 126th with a time of 39:15 to finish the Rock’s seven entries.
On the women’s side it was senior Courtney Group matching her performance from last year’s championship finishing 29th, just missing the All-Region cut-off of the top 25 places. She covered the 6,000-meter course in 22:19. Senior Caitlyn Janeda followed behind her finishing 31st in 22:21, while junior Sabrina Palmieri finished just behind her in 32nd in 22:22 to give The Rock a tight top three.
Freshman Juliet Ryan was the fourth scorer for The Rock, finishing 43rd in 22:43. The women’s final scorer was senior Matti Dunham finishing 76th in 23:31 giving The Rock a 1-5 split of just over a minute.
Junior Madison Przicina finished 80th in 23:56, and sophomore Emily Johnson finished 110th in 24:34 to cap The Rock’s seven entries in the women’s race.
Parsons will be the lone Rock runner to continue training for cross country as he prepares for the NCAA National Championships in Evansville, Indiana November 18th. The rest of The Rock runners will now join the rest of the track team to prepare for the indoor season.
