By: Scott Eddy, Assistant Athletics Director for Strategic Communications
MECHANICSVILLE, Va. – Junior Aiden Scattergood shined in the Atlantic 10 Championship meet Saturday morning, carving out a bit of history for the St. Bonaventure men's cross country program.
Scattergood placed 27th in the field of over 140 competitors with an 8K time of 24:48.8 on the Pole Green Park course layout. He set a new PR by three seconds with the second-fastest individual time in program history.
His Saturday effort will stand as the fastest time run by a Bonnies men's student-athlete in an Atlantic 10 Championship meet and the best finish by a Bona's men's runner at conference championships in over two decades of available results. The previous top finish and time in an A-10 meet by a Bonnies men's performer came last year when Clay Peets finished 33rd with a time of 24:53.4.
Scattergood continued his upward career trajectory as he finished 119th at the A-10 meet as a freshman before taking 60th in last year's conference meet.
Classmate Casey Malloy also PR'ed in Saturday's meet as he was across the finish line in 26:10.2, improving upon his previous best by just over a second to move up one spot to eighth individually in program history.
Sophomore William McCarthy made his A-10 Championship debut with a run of 26:17.5, just ahead of teammate Joshua Lopez who was over a minute faster than his A-10 Championship time of a year ago at 26:30.1.
Freshmen Nathan Sikorski (26:34), Sam Tomm (26:44) and Aiden Konetsky (27:07) along with senior Drew Carlson (27:15) all ran in the A-10 Championship for the first time.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH BOB MACFARLANE
"The men's cross country team showed significant progress throughout the season. A prime example is  Aiden Scattergood who had a PR today. This is a credit to his work ethic, in which he never ran cross country in high school. Another is Casey Malloy who also had a PR today. Sophomore William McCarthy also highlighted the season, moving into the top-five runners on the team after only running one XC meet last season."
"We had several freshmen proving their ability to compete at the Division I level. Their performances not only contributed to the team's overall success but also highlighted the potential for a bright future. Nathan Sikorski, Sam Tomm and Aiden Konetsky all qualified to run in the championship meet in their first season at the collegiate level and showed that they will be a force in the future years. The development of these young athletes will be crucial as the team looks to build on this momentum in the coming years. We had 52 percent of our men post personal best times this season. Moving on to the NCAA Northeast Regional meet will be Aiden Scattergood, Casey Malloy and William McCarthy on Nov. 15."
BONNIES RESULTS
27. Aiden Scattergood – 24:48.8 (PR)
105. Casey Malloy – 26:10.2 (PR)
109. William McCarthy – 26:17.5
115. Joshua Lopez – 26:30.1
116. Nathan Sikorski – 26:34.7
122. Sam Tomm – 26:44.3
131. Aiden Konetsky – 27:07.9
133. Drew Carlson – 27:15.3
135. Ethan Luce – 27:28.6
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