MEDIA, Pa.. - The United East is primed to host its Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships on Saturday on the campus of Penn State Brandywine. The men will compete first with their race set to take place at 11 AM. The women will follow with a start time of 12 PM.
Catch teh live action here: LIVE RESULTS | FINISH LINE VIDEO
Find all the information about both the Men’s and Women’s Championship here: CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE
Men's Cross Country Championship Preview
Last year’s Championship was an exciting watch as the top five runners all hailed from different institutions. Four of those top five have now departed, leaving the field wide open for newcomers to medal.
Penn College claimed its second-straight team title as the Wildcats had all five of their runners in the top-16. Alec Rees led that pack as his time of 28:14.14 was good enough for fifth. Rees has graduated and now first year Wildcat Ben Causak will try to lead the team as his time of 28:32.0 was the top among the squad this year.
Penn State Berks made noise at the Championship Preview hosted by Brandywine earlier this season, taking home the team title. The 2024 Rookie of the Year in Trent Jordan, is still showing promise as his time of 25:15.0 heads the Nittany Lion squad.
First year Gallaudet runner Sevan Ikeda has performed extremely well for the Bison as he has taken home United East Runner of the Week honors four times this season. Notably, Ikeda also claimed the top spot at the Conference preview.
Other runners to tune into this Championship:
Titus Dingle - Cairn University
David Helms - Lancaster Bible College
Gabriel Sisk - Notre Dame of Maryland University
Mason Kaminski - Penn State Abington
Dominic Basselgia - Penn State Harrisburg
Jayden Diawara - Penn State Brandywine
Brandon Smoot - St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Nathaniel Gale -University of Valley Forge
Women's Cross Country Championship Preview
It will be a bit of an opposite view at the women’s Championship as four of the top five runners from 2024 will be returning to the field. Clarisse Hayden from Cairn University has continued to show dominance as her two United East Runner of the Week nods allude to another run at the gold.
Lancaster Bible will be tough competition though as Abby Ames and Seana Dougherty both placed in the top-5 last season. The Chargers have only added talent to the roster as they captured the team title at the preview earlier this season.
Winners of the last four Cross Country Championships, St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s roster will look a bit different this season as four of their top-5 finishers are no longer running in Gold and Blue. Returning though is Ella Mitchell, who placed fourth last year and is poised to make another solid run this year.
Other runners to keep an eye on this year:
Sofia Troland - University of Valley Forge
Adelaide Etchman - Penn State Brandywine
MaKayla Reichel - Penn State Harrisburg
Brianna Strittmatter - Penn State Berks
Nina Maxwell - Penn State Abington
Alexis Durn - Penn College
Rebecca Coleman - Notre Dame of Maryland University
Olivia Armstrong - Gallaudet University
Giada Smith - Cedar Crest College
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The United East boasts 14 NCAA Division III full member institutions which include: Cairn University, Cedar Crest College, Gallaudet University, Keystone College, Lancaster Bible College, Notre Dame of Maryland University, Penn College, Penn State Abington, Penn State Berks, Penn State Brandywine, Penn State Harrisburg, St. Mary's College of Maryland, University of Valley Forge, and Wilson College. For more information, please visit gounitedeast.com.