Through the first two meets of its 2025 schedule, the No. 24-ranked Shawnee State men's cross country program and the (RV) Shawnee State women's cross country program have proven to be more than up to the task -- and prepared -- for the conditions that have met them so far.

Both Shawnee State cross country programs will look to continue building toward what could potentially be big seasons for each -- as the women and men will race in the 2025 All-Ohio Intercollegiate Classic, which will be held, as usual, at the Elvin R. King Cross Country Course on the campus of Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio.

For third-year Shawnee State Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Conner Flynn, the All-Ohio Meet never fails to bring a talented field to the table from top to bottom.

"All-Ohio is a great meet," Flynn said. "You get to compete head to head with many of the best programs Ohio has across all divisions. It allows us to compete against a variety of teams and see where we stand."

In each of the season's first two meets, Shawnee State's cross country programs have certainly showcased the abilities that could very well have both programs competing for hardware at the end of the 2025 season once again. On Aug. 29, Shawnee State's men's and women's programs each placed third at the Thundering Herd XC Invitational only behind NCAA Division I programs Ohio and Marshall, respectively, and placed Trevor Lanoy and Olivia Cisco inside the top-10 overall in both fields.

Then, at the IWU Twilight Invitational, more stout performances followed.

On the women's side, a total of four Shawnee State runners finished inside the top-quarter of a 203-runner, nationally respected field as Olivia Cisco, Jessica Elick, Juniper Allen and Riley Colestock all obtained top-50 finishes while Beth Middleton and Payton McQuirt made it six Bears in the top-70 in an outstanding, collective performance that saw Shawnee State finish fifth as a team in the field of 18 units. Cisco, who finished in third place in the race, set a new school record in the women's 6K with her time of 22:05.

The men then followed that up with three top-35 performances in a 304-runner field as brothers Isaiah and Trevor Lanoy each posted top-20 runs for the Bears while Eli Lengl nabbed a top-35 finish in that meet, helping Shawnee State match its 2024 showing with a seventh-place output.

Since then, Flynn feels that the men and women have only progressed.

"I was pleased with many of our performances at IWU," Flynn said, "but I feel that we've taken a step forward since on both the men's and women's teams."

Described by Flynn as a "true cross country race course with multiple loops and elevation changes," the facility at Elvin R. King is beloved by many within Ohio.

Unlike many years, the conditions for the race itself are expected to be quite warm. Temperatures at 6 p.m., just prior to the women's race beginning at 6:30 p.m., are expected to be at 85 degrees, but Flynn isn't focused on that, especially considering that the competition that the Bears will be running against will have to deal with the temperatures in much the same way.

"As for the weather, we pride ourselves on toughness and competing no matter what is thrown at us," Flynn said. "We know that everybody on the line is racing in the same conditions, so we don't dwell on that too much."

The list of individuals competing for Shawnee State, as well as the opposing teams competing at the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Classic, are listed below:

Rio Grande (No. 25 NAIA men and receiving votes NAIA women), Akron, Ashland, Malone, Findlay, Cedarville (No. 9 NCAA Division II women), Kent State, Otterbein, Bluffton, Case Western, Central State, Franciscan, John Carroll, Kenyon, Lorain CC, Marietta, Miami Running Club, Mount St. Joseph, Mount Union, Mount Vernon Nazarene, Ohio Christian, Ohio Dominican, Ohio Northern, Ohio State Running Club, Ohio Wesleyan (Receiving votes NCAA Division III women), Otterbein, Cincinnati Running Club, Wilberforce, Wilmington, Wittenberg, Wooster, Wright State-Lake.