By: Scott Eddy, Assistant Athletics Director for Strategic Communications
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The historic Gettysburg battlefield provided the backdrop for a history-making day by St. Bonaventure's men's cross country squad as 15 of the team's 18 competitors posted new personal best times, led by yet another record-setting and race-winning effort from redshirt senior Clay Peets Saturday at the Aubrey Shenk Invitational.
For the second consecutive meet, Peets led wire-to-wire in a dominating performance.
The Akron, Ohio native showed the way in the meet of over 320 competitors, often distancing the field with an 8K mark of 23:56.8. He ran the first mile in 4:38 to separate himself and never looked back. At the end of the race, Peets cleared the competition by 14 seconds.
His run under sun-splashed skies and nearly perfect conditions Saturday morning marks the first time a Bonnies competitor has broken the 24-minute barrier in an 8K race and easily surpasses his previous program record effort of 24:12.2 set two weeks ago in Louisville. Peets also smashed the existing Gettysburg College course record of 24:15 in the 36th edition of the meet.
As a team, the Bonnies were just as impressive.
St. Bonaventure finished second with 68 team points in the 34-team field, behind only Lebanon Valley's 56 points. The GRC-Tracksmith semi-pro squad was third with 69 points while Saint Francis (PA) was well back in fourth at 182 points.
Bona's average top-five time of 25:08 represents the best in program history.
Throughout the lineup, the Bonnies registered big PRs.
Juniors William McCarthy and Joshua Lopez along with graduate student Drew Carlson were key to SBU's second-place effort as they finished 17th through 19th in the running order.
McCarthy came across the finish line in 25:18.1, besting his previous PR by over 18 seconds with the fourth-best individual time in school history.
Lopez crushed his PR with an impressive showing of 25:21, surpassing his freshman year PR by nearly 48 seconds while leaping to fifth in the program record book.
Likewise, Carlson jumped several spots in the program records to sixth individually as he ran across the stripe in 25:29.1.
Just behind that trio came two more Bonnies with personal best showings: senior Casey Malloy (25:39.9) and sophomore Nathan Sikorski (25:42.2) at 21st and 23rd in Saturday's standings while also logging new program top-10 individual times.
Similarly, sophomore Aiden Konetsky (25:58.3), senior Ethan Luce (26:05.6) and freshman Alexander Rennick (26:11.8) all provided new top-15 program times.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH BOB MACFARLANE
"The team delivered a statement finish to the 2025 regular season. Leading the charge was Clay Peets, who continued his breakout season by winning his third individual title of the fall. It was a perfect combination of peak fitness and smart racing. Clay ran a fearless race and the team followed suit with one of our best team performances ever. Fifteen of our runners notching personal bests showed our depth and postseason readiness. Our top seven runners had an average time of 25:20. This performance caps a season of steady improvement and sets the stage for the Atlantic 10 Championship."
UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure will compete in the Atlantic 10 Championship meet Saturday, Nov. 1 in Cedarville, Ohio.
BONNIES RESULTS
1. Clay Peets – 23:56.8 ** - SCHOOL RECORD
17. William McCarthy – 25:18.1 (PR)
18. Joshua Lopez – 25:21.0 (PR)
19. Drew Carlson – 25:29.1 (PR)
21. Casey Malloy – 25:39.9 (PR)
23. Nathan Sikorski – 25:42.2 (PR)
33. Aiden Konetsky – 25:58.3 (PR)
41. Ethan Luce – 26:05.6 (PR)
44. Alexander Rennick – 26:11.8 (PR)
49. Layne Haught – 26:31.2 (PR)
62. Kevin Renner – 26:46.7 (PR)
68. Nate Viele – 26:55.4 (PR)
96. Matthew Ryan – 27:31.5
98. Lucas Catarella – 27:32.0Â
103. Carter Stevens – 27:34.9 (PR)
110. Jack Handman – 27:40.1
125. Tyler Schott – 27:56.9
141. James Hoffman – 28:08.4 (PR)
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