Galligan And Ryan Set To Compete At Cross Country National Championships
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- For the second-straight year senior Scott Ryan (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville East) and sophomore Kristen Galligan (Frederick, Md./Governor Thomas Johnson) will be competing at the NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championships on Saturday.
Both meets will take place at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind. LaVern Gibson previously served as the site of the Division I Cross Country Championships from 2004-11. The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is serving as the host school. The 8K men’s championship race begins at 11:00 am, while the women’s 6K race will start at noon.
Galligan and Ryan made history last year when the duo became the first cross country runners in school history to compete at the national championships. Ryan finished the 279-runner, 8K course in 175th place with a time of 25:45.20, while Galligan ran to 179th-place finish in the 277-runner, 6K course (22:48.62).
Galligan and Ryan will be two of over 550 competitors on Saturday. Galligan is the lone women’s runner from the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, while Ryan will be joined by Chansler Poole of Saint Vincent as PAC men’s representatives.
The duo made historic runs at this year’s PAC Championships by sweeping the individual titles. Galligan became the first women’s cross country runner in school history to claim a conference title since the sport was introduced at W&J in 1989. She dominated the 110-runner field with a 6K time of 21:45.50. Ryan also enjoyed a dominating performance to earn his first career conference title by turning in a time of 25:31.50, 44 seconds ahead of Poole. He was the second W&J men’s cross country runner to win a PAC championship, joining two-time winner Matthew Rudzki (2005 and 2007).
Galligan followed her PAC title performance with a runner-up showing, the highest ever by a President runner, at the NCAA Mideast Regional in Carlisle, Pa., last Saturday. She completed the race only 5.6 seconds behind Hannah Oneda of Johns Hopkins with a time of 21:40.30 at the 346-runner, 6K course. Prior to the PAC Championship, Galligan posted back-to-back first-place showings at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational and the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble. She also secured the top time at the Waynesburg Invitational to up her career total to four individual titles.
Ryan qualified for the national championships by finishing 13th for the second consecutive year at the NCAA Mideast Regional in a time of 25:09.60. Earlier this fall, Ryan ran to first place for the second time at the Waynesburg Invitational. He finished among the top four runners in five-of-seven races.
