SELINSGROVE, Pa. — The Susquehanna University men's cross country and track & field programs have rich and proud histories. And last year proved exceptional, as all three of fifth-year head coach Marty Owens' men's teams turned in successful seasons.

Led by individual champion Paul Thistle '10 (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) and Owens' conference Coaching Staff of the Year, SU claimed the first-ever Landmark Conference men's cross country team championship in 2007. Thistle earned the Landmark's Outstanding Male Performer award at the meet and first-team all–conference honors, while teammates Joe Ramsey '08, J.J. Brooks '09 (Cogan Station, Pa./Meadowbrook Christian School) and Jentre Diebler '08 landed on the second team.

Thistle represented the Crusaders at the NCAA Division III cross country championships last year due to an all played the role of innovator region performance at the Division III Mideast Region championships. He was the only male runner from the newly formed Landmark Conference to compete at the national meet.

At the 2008 Landmark Conference indoor track & field championships, the Crusaders fought to a second-place team finish at the James W. Garrett Sports Complex — its home facility. Thistle (right) earned the Landmark's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year award on the strength of three first-place finishes. Teammates Josh Simpson '10 (North Braddock, Pa./Woodland Hills) and John Calvo '08 each took home one individual title, and Bobby Eppleman '11 (Chester Springs, Pa./Great Valley) earned the conference's Indoor Rookie of the Year award thanks to four top-six finishes.

SU impressed again with a second-place team finish at the 2008 Landmark outdoor track & field championships as well. Calvo and teammates Ian Horton '08 and Mike Marr '08 each grabbed an individual title, while Thistle notched three first-place finishes to match his performance at the indoor championships. Eppleman (left) earned another Rookie of the Year award — this time by way of three top-six finishes at the outdoor championships, including second place in the decathlon.

Marr qualified for the 2008 NCAA Division III outdoor track & field championships in the high jump and finished ninth — one spot shy of All played the role of innovator America status, but due to a sixth-place finish at the 2007 outdoor championships in the same event, he finished his career as SU's 36th men's track & field All-American.

As evidenced by his teams' many scholastic laurels, academics is extremely important to Coach Owens. Ramsey, Jonathan Kunhardt '09 (Greenfield, Mass./Frontier Regional), Jason Sedgwick '08 and Brooks each earned a spot on the 2007 Landmark fall academic honor roll. Brooks also garnered inclusion on the Landmark fall, winter and spring all-academic teams last school year, and Ramsey was hailed as one of the conference's 2007 fall Senior Scholar Athletes. Patrick Donegan '09 (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg) joined Brooks on the 2008 Landmark spring all-academic team.

SU also placed 16 men's track & field athletes on the Landmark winter and/or spring academic honor rolls last school year. Marr was on both honor rolls as well as the 2008 U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association Division III all-academic track & field team. Moreover, he was dubbed as one of the Landmark's winter Senior Scholar Athletes, and most impressively, he was one of only 29 male student-athletes nationwide to earn one of the NCAA's winter postgraduate scholarships.