GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The men's cross country program at Shawnee State closed out another strong 2024 campaign by having three runners post marks in the top 20 percent of the highly-competitive NAIA Great Lakes Challenge Saturday -- as Isaiah Lanoy (24:45.6), Shawn Little (24:56.6) and Kaiden Lanoy (25:03.9) all ran blistering fast times to head up a strong seventh place showing out of 22 units in the Men's 8K Maroon Race as part of the event, which was held on the campus of Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Shawnee State, who claimed 234 points to finish seventh as a team, bettered five NAIA units ranked inside the NAIA Cross Country Top 25 Rating and four additional programs who were receiving votes prior to the event commencing. The Bears had six runners run under 26 minutes in the event in all, and of the 10 runners who participated in Saturday's meet, seven of them ran a new personal best mark.
The men had a good day," Shawnee State Cross Country and Track and Field Director Conner Flynn said. "It's encouraging that even when we aren't all on our best day, that we are still able to compete to the level we did today by picking it up in other areas. Some athletes stepped up, and that was great to see."
Isaiah Lanoy, who continues to put together a fantastic season, ran under 25 minutes for the second consecutive meet en route to putting up a new personal best for the second straight time out as well. Lanoy's 24:45.6 was 8.2 seconds faster than his previous PB of 24:53.8 set at the Live in Lou XC Classic three weeks ago -- and the effort allowed Isaiah Lanoy to finish 16th in the field of 200 runners.
For the first time in his collegiate career, Shawn Little broke the 25 minute mark, as Little, who ran a 24:56.6, beat his previous personal best of 25:00.1, which was set at last season's River States Conference Championship Meet -- a meet that Little finished third in -- by nearly four full seconds. The senior finished 26th overall.
Kaiden Lanoy, who claimed 34th in the field, clicked off a stout time of 25:03.9 to finish 34th. Lanoy ran nearly 27 full seconds faster than his previous personal best of 25:27.8 set at the Live in Lou Classic.
"Our front three men were impressive today, running three of the 12 fastest times in school history," Flynn said. "We can definitely continue to move forward, but that was encouraging to see."
Down the leaderboard, Shawnee State continued to get great efforts -- as the Bears got a 25:31.6 from Trevor Lanoy, who finished 74th overall. Freshman Connor Darnell added in a fantastic effort, as the freshman, who continues to showcase rapid improvement each time out, posted a personal best for the third consecutive meet. After initially running a 27:21.8 in the first career 8K at the Indiana Wesleyan University Twilight Invitational, Darnell has lowered that time by over a minute and 34 seconds, dropping his personal best time down all the way to a 25:47.2 to finish 94th overall.
"Connor Darnell had a great day," Flynn said. "Setting a 42-second personal best (from the Live in Lou XC Meet) to run 25:47 and step into the fifth spot at Great Lakes as a freshman is not an easy feat. He stepped up for his team in a big meet."
Behind the main scoring contributors, Dylan French, who finished 104th with a 25:55.4, added in another consistent effort, while Jerry O'Dell and Caden LaRue finished 148th and 152nd, respectively. O'Dell, who posted a 26:34.8, ran nearly 14 full seconds faster than his previous personal best, while LaRue ran exactly 12 seconds faster than his previous PB by posting a 26:37.9.
Aidan Judd's 27:53.3 and Garrett Carver's 28:09.2 rounded out those who competed for SSU -- with Carver fittingly rounding out the Bears' efforts with another personal best that was over six seconds faster than his previous personal standard.
With the regular season in the books, Shawnee State will turn its attention to the River States Conference Championships Saturday, Nov. 9 -- which will be held at Angel Mounds State Park in Evansville, Ind. The Bears are looking to repeat as RSC Champions and run its streak of consecutive conference championships won, between the RSC and the Mid-South Conference, to nine straight -- but it will most certainly be a fight that Flynn and Co. aren't taking for granted.
"It's time to focus on what's important at this point in the season," Flynn said. "The men's side of the River States is strong up front, and we are not going to take that lightly. However, we are confident in the athletes we have and our ability to execute."
