LOUISVILLE – The Shippensburg University men's cross country team navigated through the snow, sleet and wintry mix that beset the 10K course at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park in Louisville on Saturday morning and earned seventh place overall at the 2010 NCAA Division II National Championships – one of the best team finishes in the history of the program.

Shippensburg entered the weekend ranked No. 9 in Division II and improved six spots from its 13th-place finish a season ago. Most importantly, the success of Shippensburg and Lock Haven allows for an extra team from the Atlantic Region to qualify for next year's national championships.

The day featured many highlights and outstanding performances, but there was none greater than the effort of redshirt junior Brandon Boyer – who delivered a virtuoso performance and finished 38th overall to earn All-American honors. Boyer's 10K time was 31:37.4 – an improvement of 39 seconds from the regional meet and just three seconds off his time from last year's PSAC outdoor track championships.

“I feel that at the 10K I have a lot of experience,” Boyer said. “A lot of the guys on our team are more mid-distance oriented. Sean [Stetler, reigning PSAC 10K champion] and I have worked a lot together, and I think a lot of the longer runs we've had this year have really helped with that. Overall, the 10K to me is kind of my specialty, and I excel at that, and it went well and I was happy with it.”

Boyer becomes just the second men's All-American in head coach Steve Spence's 13 seasons at the helm of the Raider harriers. He is the first since John Somers finished 21st in 2005 and the ninth individual All-American in program history.

“Brandon was our alternate at the national meet last year – he didn't get to run,” Spence said of the talented 10K star. “But he got there, he learned, got comfortable with the environment, saw that he could do well at this level, and that was very important for him.”

Three Red Raiders were among a group that finished between 50th and 60th place – key factors toward the success of the team's finish.

Junior Stephen Schelander, the team's No. 1 runner at last year's national meet, finished 50th overall with a time of 31:53.6. It is a 69-second improvement from his time at Southern Indiana in 2009.

Sophomore Matt Gillette finished as Shippensburg's No. 3 runner with a time of 31:57.2. Gillette ran five seconds faster than his All-Region pace of two weeks ago and 88 seconds ahead of his national debut last season.

Senior Sean Stetler was SU's No. 4 runner, finishing 59th in 31:58.4. After posting a time of 35:08 at last year's national meet, Stetler was a member of the main pack the entire race on Saturday.

Another senior, Bryan Beegle, was the last of Shippensburg's scoring runners. He finished 67th with a time of 32:06.5. Beegle was 73rd at last year's meet and caps off a dazzling cross country career with the Raiders.

Rounding out the Shippensburg contingent was seniors Jake Sitler and Josh Neyhart. Sitler, who did not run at nationals last season, just missed the Top 100 with a time of 32:52.4. Neyhart was just behind in 33:01.3.

“I've been kind of speechless all day,” Boyer said. “We have such a great group of guys, we're such a tight group of friends, and it's really special to have my best friends finish right there with us. To come out with a Top 8 finish, which has been our goal all year - to be able to get what we wanted and to share it with such a great group of guys is just special.”

“This group of guys has been together for four years,” Spence said. “They have a special bond between them – it's a lot of fun to be around them – they were very loose today as they went out to the course and were ready to go.”

Notes: SU ran in the national meet for the second straight year after finishing 13th last season…the Red Raiders posted its best national championship finishes in 1990 [2nd] and 1991 [4th].

Shippensburg (246 points)
38. Brandon Boyer (31:37.4)
50. Stephen Schelander (31:53.6)
54. Matt Gillette (31:57.2)
59. Sean Stetler (31:58.4)
67. Bryan Beegle (32:06.5)
102. Jake Sitler (32:52.4)
106. Josh Neyhart (33:01.3)