Joanna Kerchner leads the Bobcats to a 6th place team finish at USCAA Women's Nationals in XC

2025 Cross Country Team

USCAA National Championships

Penn State – Fayette Campus, Uniontown, PA ~ 8 November '25

USCAA Women's 6K Championships:  Joanna Kerchner (Reading, PA/Berks Catholic HS) led the Bobcats from the start for the first time this season, and this paid off as she ran the 6K in 29:09, her best time this season to finish in 22^nd place in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championships held at Penn State Fayette campus in Uniontown, PA.  Her 4:51 pace/kilometer equaled her pace in the 5K she ran to begin the season at SUNY Plattsburgh on a flat course, whereas this course on the Penn State – Fayette campus is certainly  the most challenging (hilly) course of the entire season.  

Morgan Cheney (Prattsburgh, NY/Finger Lakes CC) finished second for PSC with a time of 31:37 to finish in 35^th place, followed closely by team captain Chloe Freund (Clinton, NY/Clinton HS) in 31:38. 

Olivia Bobbie (North Bangor, NY/Brushton-Moira HS) and Madi Kirn (Columbus, OH/Northlands College) ran most of the 6K event together, finishing in 34:56 and 35:08 respectively to round out the scoring five for Paul Smith's.  Both Kirn and Cheney were sidelined the majority of the season with injuries in recovery mode, and with the addition of Bobbie the final two weeks of the season, Paul Smith's was able to field a scoring team at USCAA Nationals and as a team finished in 6^th place with 126 points.  Sixty runners from 16 colleges and universities took part in the event. 

Brooklynn Shumway (Bloomingdale, NY/Saranac Lake HS) was recognized by the USCAA as the Women's XC Student Athlete of the Year.  Brooklynn has maintained a solid 4.0 cumulative GPA while majoring in Natural Sciences and is a three-sport athlete including women's ice hockey and snowshoeing to go along with running cross country.  Shumway was unable to attend nor participate due to an injury suffered during an ice hockey game a couple weeks ago, so the entire women's team accepted the award in her absence.  Brooklynn is the rock that holds the cross country teams together the past two seasons.

USCAA Men's 8K Championships:  Paul Smith's College junior, Eliot Soderholm (Reston, VA/South Lakes HS) emerged from the USCAA Men's 8K National Championships as the Champion, finishing the challenging course in 27:46.  Eliot and Coach Jim Tucker established a race plan that would play to Soderholm's advantage.  As an extremely strong hill runner, he focused on powering up each of the steep hill climbs, which paid off as he was able to catch the younger runners who likely went out too fast at the start, and then reduce the runners ahead of him to a single athlete at the end of the first 4K lap.  Eliot continued to close the gap on this extremely fast athlete from Williamson College on the second lap, and around the 4 mile mark, this athlete collapsed from exhaustion, leaving Eliot alone to lead the race from this point. 

Eli Lemire (NHTI) is a very good running friend of Eliot's, and these two strong athletes have different running strengths. Eli has superior leg speed, and a very strong finishing kick.  Both have excellent half marathon times, while Eli has faster middle distance track times.  Eliot continued to work the uphills and really push the downhills and flats in an attempt to wear down Eli before the final 300 meters.  The relentless approach worked on Saturday, as Eli was unable to close the gap and finished in second place with a time of 27:53.  Eli won the national championship as a freshman last year, and also won the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) title last weekend on the NHTI course.  The pair of runners collapsed after finishing and then post race, they ran their cool down together, and this time, several of their fellow teammates joined them.  The camaraderie of cross country running is a beautiful thing to see among the competitors, as the men's and women's runners from NHTI and Paul Smith's College teams share a bond together whenever they see one another through the fall season. 

Mat Matis (Susquehanna, PA/Susquehanna Community HS) caught fellow Smitty, Bryce Shannon (Sparrow Bush, NY/Port Jervis, NY) during the second lap of the 4-K course, and they worked together to finish in 32:41 and 32:42 respectively.  They finished in 30^th and 31^st place.  Shannon was one of the many first year runners in the race who took it out too hard over the first mile, and then the ensuing hills beat these runners up over the remaining five miles of the race.  The excitement of racing nationals can carry one so far, but not for 30 minutes.  It is tough to remain mentally under control when the gun is fired to start the race, and one can see so many others blast off the line. 

Matis and Shannon are both first year students and they have bonded together nicely for Paul Smith's this fall.  In fact, the majority of the men's team is first year students and they have worked hard while enjoying all the Adirondacks have to offer, while also excelling in the classroom.  The coaches have really enjoyed the experience this fall, with the four captains guiding the young men and women through the fall season. 

Brock Boissey (Cadyville, NY/Saranac Central) finished fourth in 36:01 to place 42^nd, followed by captain, Aidan Minihan (Newark, DE/Tatnall School) in 36:40 in 44^th.  Rounding out the PSC men's finishers include Reece Perry (Malone, NY/Franklin Academy) in 39:14, Tim James (Lancaster, MA/Minuteman Regional Vocational HS) in 39:14 and senior captain, Noah Keys (LeRoy, NY/LeRoy HS) in 45:59. 

SUNY – ESF won both the women's and men's national team titles with scores of 15 and 33 points respectively.  NHTI men finished second in the men's event, the team's highest performance at nationals ever with 86 points.  Christendom College finished third with 88 points, followed by Williamson with 108 and Paul Smith's in fifth with 112 points. Sixteen colleges and universities were represented in the men's 8K with 65 athletes finishing the race.

Women's Finishers:  60                                                                                                              Men's Finishers: 65

Women's Team Scores                                                                                                               Men's Team Scores

1. SUNY ESF 15                                                                                                                    1. SUNY ESF 33
2. Carlow 81                                                                                                                         2. NHTI 86
3. Christendom College 89                                                                                                     3. Christendom College 88
4. Albany Pharmacy 97                                                                                                          4. Williamson 108

5.   Penn State – Schuylkill 109                                                                                                    5. Paul Smith's 112

6.   Paul Smith's 126                                                                                                                    6. Penn State – Dubois 117

Incomplete teams:                                                                                                                      7. Penn State – Schuylkill 141

Penn State Shenango, NHTI, WOLBI, Navajo Tech, Wright State,                                                     Incomplete Teams: Vermont Tech, York County CC, PSU - Scranton, USSU, WOLBI,

Colorado Mountain College, Beacon College, Dine College (AZ), PSU - Dubois,                                  Colorado Mountain College, Beacon College, Dine College (AZ), and Carlow College. 

and PSU - Scranton.               

Official Meet Results: USCAA Women's 6K - 2025 USCAA Cross Country National Championships - Nov 8, 2025 | Gingerbread Running Co.