COLUMBIA, Mo. -- It's safe to say that the fantastic running tradition at Shawnee State is alive and well.
The 2024 men's cross country squad at Shawnee State continued to not only preserve that tradition Friday morning, but build upon it -- as the Bears, behind a strong top-70 showing from Isaiah Lanoy and a personal best showing from Dylan French, claimed the program's seventh consecutive top-20 national finish with a 14th place showing at the 2024 NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championships, which were held at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo.
Shawnee State, who posted a stout average time of 25:13.8, put four runners among the top 120 finishers overall en route to posting 441 points to collect the 14th spot.
In doing so, the Bears were easily the top River States Conference team at the 2024 NAIA National Championships -- backing up their performance by an even greater margin than at the River States Conference Championship Meet in the process as Indiana-East finished with 476 points and a 16th place finish in the order while Rio Grande totaled 565 points and a 27th place collection in the rundown. Additionally, Shawnee State was also the only program in the River States Conference to post four finishers inside the top-120 overall.
"The men ran hard today, and competed from the gun to the finish," Shawnee State Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Conner Flynn said. "The NAIA, as a whole, has taken a huge step forward these past few years. It is nice to finish in the top-15 and beat several ranked teams that were ahead of us in the final NAIA Men's Cross Country Rating."
Having established himself as the top gun for SSU throughout most of the 2024 men's cross country season, Isaiah Lanoy posted a fantastic effort by collecting a 24:57.6 to finish 68th overall in a massive 326-runner field. Isaiah was one of 75 runners in the NAIA to crack the 25 minute mark in what was another impressive showing for the young standout -- who, amazingly, has three full seasons of eligibility left in the sport.
Behind Isaiah Lanoy, consistent Shawnee State hand Trevor Lanoy came up big with a 25:05.7 to finish 77 spots higher than his 2023 placement in the same event -- en route to a personal best. Trevor has two full seasons of eligibility left on the men's cross country side of the spectrum, which is a frightening thought for the opposition considering that Trevor Lanoy posted personal bests in each of his last four races, including a nearly 14-second personal best of his previous personal standard set at the NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championships.
Senior standout Dylan French, however, may have enjoyed one of the finest performances of all. Running a 25:07.6, French enjoyed an amazing performance that saw the Coal Grove product set a near 43-second personal best in the final cross country race of his career -- and finish inside the national top-100 (93rd) as a result. French's gains really show in a big way when compared from the 2023 NAIA National Championship to the 2024 version of the event -- as the two-time NAIA National Championship cross country participant improved from from a 27:22.4 mark in 2023 to his 25:07.6 time in 2024, an improvement of nearly two minutes and 15 seconds.
Kaiden Lanoy (119th, 25:16.7) and Shawn Little (188th, 25:41.5) rounded out the scoring efforts and were their normal consistent selves in doing so with rounding out the top-five. Lanoy has two seasons left in a Shawnee State uniform while Little closed out his running career as a two-time NAIA National Qualifier for Shawnee State and a three-time NAIA National Qualifier overall in addition to the NAIA All-America honors that Little obtained in 2023.
Jerry O'Dell (286th) and Caden LaRue (294th) rounded out the finishing order for Shawnee State at the 2024 NAIA Cross Country National Championships -- as O'Dell posted a 27:00.3 while LaRue obtained a 27:21.5. O'Dell has two seasons of eligibility remaining while LaRue has three years to go after completing his freshman campaign this fall -- meaning that the Shawnee State cross country program returns six of its top-eight cross country harriers from the 2024 NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championships, along with Connor Darnell, who was a freshman making significant strides as a consistent rotation runner prior to a season-ending injury.
"We try not to use our youth as an excuse, as we have a standard for our athletes regardless of their year in the program," Flynn said. "However, it's great to know that the majority of the women's and men's cross country runners are returning. Great progress was made this year, and I'm excited for what is to come for our group of athletes."
Friday's competition proved to be the last for French and Little -- as the two seniors, along with Aidan Judd, officially completed their eligibility in cross country. Judd was a two-time NAIA National Championship cross country participant earlier in the Waverly native's career.
"I want to thank our seniors Shawn Little, Dylan French and Aidan Judd," Flynn said. "Those three have different demeanors and have done a great job leading the team in their own respective ways."
