SELINSGROVE, PA – For the third straight year, Susquehanna University’s Ryan Gleason will be competing in the NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country Championship, to be held on the campus of Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana on Saturday beginning at noon.

Gleason (Johnstown, PA/Westmont Hilltop H.S.), a senior, is aiming to become the second Crusader to earn All-America honors, joining Greg Pealer who finished 11th in 1983. The top 35 individual finishers out of 215 runners in the field are named to the All-America team.

Gleason is coming off a second-place finish at the NCAA Mideast Regional meet at Carlisle High School last Saturday, finishing in a time of 25:55 that was just four seconds behind race winner Mike Vidumsky of DeSales.

In last year’s NCAA meet in Northfield, Minnesota, Gleason finished 71st with a time of 26:05.2 after coming in 85th at the 2001 championship meet at Augustana, Illinois.

Gleason is a four-time first-team All-Middle Atlantic Conference honoree after finishing seventh as a freshman, fifth as a sophomore, fourth as a junior and third this season. He was coached by Marty Owens this year after running for three years under Craig Penney.

The men’s field for the 8,000-meter NCAA championship race will consist of 215 runners, with 24 squads of seven runners each competing for the team title joined by 47 at-large racers.