LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) announced the 2025 Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll today and the Bald Eagles were selected to finish in the top-5. Lock Haven is set to open the 2025 season on Friday, Sept. 5 when they host Penn State for the annual Dolan Duals at the West Branch Cross Country Course.
2025 PSAC Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll
Shippensburg was selected as the favorite to capture the 2025 PSAC men's cross country title, voted on by the league's coaches.
The Raiders earned 14 of the 15 possible first-place votes and East Stroudsburg, the 2024 runner-up, received the remaining first-place vote and was picked second.
Slippery Rock and Kutztown followed in third and fourth, respectively, while Lock Haven rounded out the top five. The Bald Eagles will look to climb the standings this fall after placing sixth at last year's championship meet.
Indiana (Pa.) was slated sixth, followed by Gannon in seventh and California (Pa.) in eighth. West Chester and Edinboro completed the top 10.
Bloomsburg, Pitt-Johnstown, Seton Hill, Mansfield and Shepherd closed out the poll in places 11 through 15.
2025 PSAC Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses)
- Shippensburg (14)
- East Stroudsburg (1)
- Slippery Rock
- Kutztown
- Lock Haven
- IUP
- Gannon
- California (Pa.)
- West Chester
- Edinboro
- Bloomsburg
- Pitt-Johnstown
- Seton Hill
- Mansfield
- Shepherd
2025 Men's Cross Country Schedule
Sep. 5: Dolan Duals vs. Penn State, Lock Haven, Pa.
Sep. 13: Br. John "Paddy" Doyle Meet of Champions, New Rochelle, N.Y.
Sep. 27: Lock Haven Invitational, Lock Haven, Pa.
Oct. 11: Highlander Invitational, Houghton, N.Y.
Oct. 18: Aubrey Shenk Invitational, Gettysburg, Pa.
Oct. 25: PSAC Championship, Edinboro, Pa.
Nov. 1: Go Fast River Run, Lock Haven, Pa.
Nov. 8: NCAA DII Atlantic Region Championships, Lock Haven, Pa.
Lock Haven will serve as host for multiple meets, including the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Championships on Nov.8.
Head Coach Aaron Russell
The 2025-26 academic year marks Russell's 28th overall as a track & field coach at Lock Haven. He's also the head men's and women's cross country coach.
A look back at 2024
Jakob Rager led the squad with a standout effort at the PSAC Championship, finishing 10th overall and earning First Team All-Conference honors.
Rager was 10th (First Team All-PSAC; top-15) after running 25:54.0 (8K).
Kristian Mizdail was 27th (Second Team All-PSAC; 16-30) in 23:35.3, good enough for Second Team All-PSAC honors.
Gavin Furey finished 47th in 27:07.4 and
Evan Klinger was 53rd in 27:16.9.
Colby Petrizzo rounded out the top-five Haven finishers with a time of 27:40.7 (71st).
Rager's excellent showing helped Lock Haven place 8th as a team at the PSAC Championships, marking a notable achievement in a deep conference field that featured perennial powerhouses.
The Bald Eagles went on to host the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Championship on their home course at the West Branch Cross Country Course in Lock Haven. Rager again led the group with a 38th-place finish out of 156 runners. Mizdail finished 56th, while Furey delivered a strong closing performance to round out the team's leaders in the regional competition.
Newcomers to the program
The Bald Eagles welcomed six newcomers to the program in 2025, including four freshman and two transfers from Pennsylvania.
To view the complete 2025 roster, click
here.
