Men's Cross Country | 8/29/2025 12:41:00 PM

Saturday, August 30 | Father Bede Invitational | Tyrone, Pa. | B & D Acres | 10:15 a.m. (W) | 11 a.m. (M) | LIVE STATS

RUNNING START
Saint Francis's women's and men's cross country teams will host their season opener during the Father Bede Invitational on Saturday. This will be the ninth time in the last 10 seasons that they have hosted this event. Saint Francis has competed in this designated home meet since 2007, and it takes place at the B & D Acres in Tyrone, Pa, for the fourth straight year. The teams that are competing in this invitation are CCSU, Duquesne, Juniata, Mercyhurst, and Penn State Altoona.  

NEXT TIME RUNNING
Saint Francis will travel to the upcoming invitational at the Allegheny Classic. The women will hit the course at 10 a.m. and the men at 10:40 a.m. on September 20.  
 

PRESEASON POLL
Both the Saint Francis men's and women's cross-country teams are predicted to finish fourth according to the NEC Preseason Poll. On the men's side, CCSU is the unanimous preseason favorite with Wagner, Stonehill, LIU, Saint Francis, Le Moyne, New Haven, FDU, Mercyhurst, and Chicago State rounding out the 10-team poll. The Red Flash and LIU finished tied for fourth in the poll. 

CCSU is also the preseason favorite on the women's side after receiving seven of the 10 first-place votes. Wagner earned two first-place votes and finished the poll tied with Stonehill, while Saint Francis picked up the final first-place vote to round out the top four teams. Mercyhurst, New Haven, Le Moyne, FDU, and Chicago State rounded out the poll.  

RETURNERS TO TALK ABOUT
Anna Quackenbush is coming back for her third year for the women's team. Last season she earned All-NEC team honors at the NEC Championship, while finishing 12th in the 5k with a time of 18:16.9. She also claimed four NEC Prime Performers and ended the season with two top 10 finishes.
For the men, Michelangelo Piccirillo returns for his final year with the Red Flash. The senior finished 29th at the Father Bede Invitational with a 6k personal best time of 21:00.7. He also competed in the NCAA Division-1 Mid Atlantic Regional Championship with a time of 33:46.8.

WELCOME TO THE RED FLASH 
In the upcoming season opener at home, three men are looking at their first collegiate run: Micah Brydon (Maytown, Pa./Donegal), Nick Kupniewski (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prepatory), and Ryan Young (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic). 

On the other hand, two women are looking at their first collegiate run: Savannah Hoover (Patton, Pa./Cambria Heights) and Abigail Sheehan (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria).

Also joining the team from a different perspective, graduate assistant John Flynn Jr.  

ABOUT THE COACH 
Douglas Hoover enters his 14th season at Saint Francis University as the head of men's and women's cross country and track and field teams. A 20-year veteran of the collegiate coaching ranks, Hoover previously served two years as an assistant coach with the Red Flash from 2000-2002. During Hoover's first eight years at the helm of the SFU program, the squads have become perennial contenders in the Northeast Conference and have captured two conference team titles. Sixteen women's track & field school records, and 12 men's school records have been re-written. Five women and three men have qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary, with two advancing to the National Championship. Hoover came to Loretto from Juniata College, where he served as an assistant coach with the men's and women's track & field and cross-country teams from 2007 to 2012. In 2016, Hoover was inducted into the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame.