PSAC Preview (Men)

With no PSAC teams in the top 25 in the nation, there is no clear-cut favorite here. They are also in a region that will more than likely not send any additional qualifying teams, therefore there will be even more pressure on this conference championship.

Edinboro was up there for awhile, but a rather shaky 9th place finish at Pre-Nats saw them drop out of the top 25. They lack a low-stick front-runner, and appear to struggle with depth. However, their strength lies with their 1-3 pack. The trio of Jared Hallow, Corey Wefing, and Colton Cassel had just a 19 second spread at Pre-Nationals that led to them all placing in the top 40. Unfortunately, there’s a steep drop off after that. Their fourth man, Brendan Oswalt, was 81st, while their fifth, Eduardo Tapia, was back in 141st. If something were to happen to one of their top five, they could find themselves dropping down the conference results significantly. They didn’t run a seven man, and their sixth finished 261st overall.

Shippensburg has now taken over the top ranking in the Atlantic Region, and rightfully so. They, too, lack a true front-runner, but they’ve also shown the ability to pack run. Their top four at the Gettysburg Invitational had just a 12 second spread, with two more runners coming in about 15 seconds behind, resulting in a less than 30 second spread between their first and sixth runner. That is the kind of depth that wins championships.

Individually, this is a conference that graduated it’s top five from last year’s conference meet. The low points up front could be up for grabs by almost anybody, but keeping your fourth and fifth runners close to the top group will prove to be the difference maker. For that reason, I’m going with Shippensburg to repeat as PSAC champs.

Perhaps an even closer battle will be the one for 3rd. At Pre-Nats, Indiana (PA) edged Kutztown by just seven points, averaging only one second faster than the Bears over 8000 meters. Kutztown is led by a trio of seniors and has improved leaps and bounds over last year’s team that finished all the way back in 8th at the PSAC meet.

That being said, Indiana (PA) put four runners in front of the Bears’ second, and for that reason, I see them snagging 3rd. However, on the right day, either of these teams could battle with Edinboro. Although they were both nearly 200 points behind Edinboro at Pre-Nats, the field size was about double what it will be this weekend. Edinboro’s top three will keep their score low, but both Indiana and Kutztown will benefit from fewer individuals.

A team nobody is talking about is West Chester who are led by senior Josh Coakley. He finished 11th overall at Pre-Nats, 10 seconds clear of the nearest PSAC competitor. He’s the individual favorite heading into the weekend and I’m sure he’d like to see his team succeed as well.

Predictions

Team

1. Shippensburg Raiders

2. Edinboro Fighting Scots

3. Indiana (Pa.) Bears

Individual

1. Josh Coakley (West Chester)

2. Joseph Westrick (Gannon)

3. Albert Schrimp (Shippensburg)

4. Xavier Gutierrez (Kutztown)

5. Robert Moser (Shippensburg)