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SSU men's, women's XC to compete in All-Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships
Posted: Sep 19, 2024

SSU men's, women's XC to compete in All-Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships

The cross country programs at Shawnee State will take on in-state foes at all levels from a meet that has been a fixture on the men's and women's cross country schedule for many seasons now -- as the Bears will travel to Cedarville University to race in the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships, which will be held at the Elvin R. King Cross Country Course in Cedarville Friday evening.

For Shawnee State Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Conner Flynn, the All-Ohio Championships will give both teams the opportunity to showcase their best versions of themselves as the season hits the halfway point.

"The men's team has been clicking since our last meet," Flynn said. "We knew coming in this season that the men's team would need to be patient, and that patience is appearing to pay off as they look stronger each week. The women's team has grown in confidence. Many of our women are starting to recognize their abilities and the level that they are capable of. This is great to see heading into the latter part of our schedule."
 
Friday's races will mark the 43rd Annual All-Ohio Championship Meet for the women and the 69th Annual All-Ohio Championship Meet for the men. The Shawnee State men's cross country program has won the NAIA and NCAA Division II Team Championship twice -- doing so in 2010 and 2011 -- in the prestigeous event. In both of those seasons, Shawnee State went on to finish fourth and ninth at the NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championships, which was part of a string of five consecutive NAIA National Top-10 finishes from 2009 to 2013.
 
"All-Ohio is a special meet," Flynn said. "It provides a great environment, great competition, and the experience of a large race is one that you carry into the next phase of the schedule. The course is slightly rolling, but is a competitive championship style setup. The course definitely has the capability to provide some quick results, and even better racing. This meet is great preparation for the postseason. All-Ohio provides a championship style race and experience. It teaches the athletes valuable lessons that can help them navigate championship races later on in the season."
 
Between the large field, the prestige of competing and garnering a high placement at the event and the tests that both the competition, as well as the course, carry, it's easy to see why the All-Ohio Championships are an annual stop for not just Shawnee State, but many additional cross country programs on the schedule.
 
In all, a total of at least 30 Ohio institutions will be taking part in the event, including Shawnee State, archrival Rio Grande, Mount Vernon Nazarene, NCAA Division I schools Wright State and Xavier, and Ashland, Bluffton, Capital, Case Western Reserve, Central State, Findlay, Franciscan, Heidelberg, Kenyon, Malone, Marietta, Mount St. Joseph, Muskingum, Ohio Dominican, Ohio Northern, Ohio Wesleyan, Otterbein, Tiffin, Ursuline (women only), Wilmington, and the College of Wooster among others.
 
Considering the stout in-state competition that will be present in the above list of units, expectations are high -- especially with the raised stakes that come with state bragging rights.
 
"I expect the men to improve on their past meet," Flynn said. "Our men's team is finally just about whole, and we are very excited for that. I expect them to battle. We have a great group up front with the Lanoys (Isaiah, Kaiden, Trevor) and (Shawn) Little, and they set the tone for our next group to follow. I am very proud of the focus the men have shown. I expect the women to continue competing and gaining experience that they can use moving forward. Our women's team is still finding their spots, but becoming stronger meet by meet. Olivia Cisco and Jessica Elick have been dependable and constant. It's exciting to see the rest of our women gaining that confidence to close that gap each meet."
 
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