KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Golden Eagle cross country team recorded their best finish at the conference championship in 12 years on Friday, with Clarion placing eighth at the 2021 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship hosted by Kutztown.

It is the Golden Eagle’s first finish in the single digits since a seventh-place run in 2009.

Clarion runners produced one of the tightest spreads of finishers in the entire conference, with just one minute and 23 seconds separating the Golden Eagle top-five. That led to a preponderance of points for Clarion, who topped traditional powers such as Shippensburg and West Chester.

Haley Schaller enjoyed her best career finish at the PSAC Championships in what will be her last trip to the conference race, placing 18th overall with a time of 23:43.7. That is six spots better than her previous career-best, a 24th-place showing at the 2019 championship. On the other end of the career spectrum, freshman Gabby Kutchma showed well in her PSAC Championship debut, placing 32nd overall with a time of 24:24.8. Abby Sullivan was less than four seconds behind her, taking 35th overall and third on the team with a time of 24:28.

Schaller’s individual finish was the best for a Golden Eagle since Kayce Bobnar took 11th overall at the 2018 PSAC Championships.

Courtney Kosanovic was the fourth Golden Eagle to complete the 6K course in under 25 minutes, finishing 53rd overall with a time of 24:50.3, and sophomore Mackenzie Carver rounded out the Golden Eagle scoring five wit ha time of 25:06.9. Bailey Royhab was just 17 seconds behind her, ranking sixth on the team with a time of 25:23.4, and Autumn Pettinato finished out the Golden Eagle top-seven with a 26:06.6.