With top ranked Malone College heavily favored to win its 15th consecutive AMC Championship, all other teams were running for 2nd place and an at-larger birth to the NAIA National Championship Meet.  Shawnee State entered the meet ranked 12th in the NAIA.  The Bears, however, failed to live up to expectations and ran a disappointing 3rd, one point behind Cedarville.  Malone won the event.  Keegan Rathkamp placed 9th overall in a time of 26:20.  Corey Culbertson ran 11th in 26:25.  Tyler Hickey ran 15th and 16th respectively in 26:40.  Josh Linkous rounded out the scoring in 19th place in 25:53. [Results]  Rathkamp and Culbertson earned 2nd Team All-AMC honors for their efforts.  Hickey, Roush, Linkous, and Joe Jinks were named Honorable Mention All-AMC.

Shawnee State, ranked 13th in the NAIA, captured its 4th meet championship of the year with a victory in the Wilmington Fall Classic.  The Bears won the 20-team event with a score of 57.  Otterbein placed second, followed by Centre College.  Keegan Rathkamp paced the Bears with a 6th place overall finish.  He covered the 8k-course in 25:52.  Corey Culbertson placed 10th in 25:57 and Michael Owen ran 11th in 25:58.  Chris Roush placed 13th in 26:03.  Josh Linkous ran 16th in a time of 26:10 to round out the scoring for Shawnee State.  [Results]  "We ran a great meet and beat some tough teams," said Shawnee State head coach Eric Putnam.  "We had 8 runners record personal best times today.  We are peaking at the right time.  We have a week off and should be ready to run at the conference championship."

Shawnee State, ranked 15th in the NAIA, recorded its highest ever finish at the All-Ohio Meet.  The Bears placed 10th overall, defeating such NCAA Division I teams as Dayton, Youngstown State, Wright State, and Bowling Green.  Malone College, ranked #1 in the NAIA, won the event.  Keegan Rathkamp paced the Bears with a 38th place finish in 27:22.  Chris Roush placed 43rd in 27:25.  Corey Culbertson ran 49th in 27:30.  Michael Owen covered the 8k-course in 27:42.  Tyler Hickey recorded a time of 28:24.  Joe Jinks and Paul Webb ran, but did not finish.  [Results]  "I'm really proud of our guys," said Coach Eric Putnam.  "It was a tough course in extremely difficult heat conditions.  The end of the race looked like a trauma center.  I've never seen anything like it at a race before."

Shawnee State, ranked 15th in the NAIA, finished 8th out of 21 teams at the Loyola Invitational in Chicago on Saturday afternoon.  The Bears defeated such NCAA Division I teams as Purdue, Marshall, Chicago, and Loyola.  Malone College won the event.  Keegan Rathkamp paced the Bears with a 20th place finish in a time of 25:30.  Corey Culbertson ran 46th in 26:02.  Paul Webb (26:12), Michael Owen (26:21), and Joe Jinks (26:22) rounded out the scoring for the Bears.  [Results]  "I'm really pleased with how we're running right now," said SSU head coach Eric Putnam.  "We faced some tremendous competition today and fared rather well.  I'm really looking forward to next week."

Shawnee State, ranked 21st in the NAIA, won its third straight meet and its first ever Cedarville Invitational.  Among others in the 19-team field, Shawnee State defeated 14th ranked University of the Cumberlands and 20th ranked Cedarville University.  Shawnee State took five of the top 15 spots.  Keegan Rathkamp posted the second fastest time in school history (25:30) to win the 8k event.  Michael Owen finished 6th in 26:13.  Corey Culbertson ran 9th in 26:16.  Joe Jinks (26:27), Chris Roush (26:27), and Paul Webb (26:33) ran 14th though 16th.  [Results]  "I'm really please with how well we're running right now," said Shawnee State coach Eric Putnam.  "We're going to take a week off and get recharged before Loyola, All-Ohio, and Wilmington."

Shawnee State won its second straight meet with a near-perfect score at the Walsh Invitational.  Walsh finished second followed by Notre Dame and John Carroll.  Shawnee State took 11 of the first 12 places for a score of 18.  Keegan Rathkamp won the 5-mile event with a time of 27:06.  Corey Culbertson placed second in 27:27.  Michael Owen (27:55), Joe Jinks (27:58), and Chris Roush (28:09) rounded out the scoring for the Bears.  [Results]  "The course was really muddy, and the times weren't great, but overall, I'm pleased with our performance," said Shawnee State coach Eric Putnam.  "We've run well so far, but we'll find out how we stack up at Cedarville next week."

Shawnee State won its fifth consecutive Shawnee State Invitational at Earl Thomas Conley Park.  The Bears captured the first five places and took seven of eight.  Davis & Elkins placed 2nd followed by Mt. Vernon Nazarene at 3rd.  Keegan Rathkamp set a new Shawnee State record as he covered the 5-mile course in 25:12 to win the individual championship.  Michael Owen ran 2nd in 26:04.  Joe Jinks (26:22), Corey Culbertson (26:22), and Chris Roush (26:25) rounded out the scoring for Shawnee State.  [Results]

2006 Recaps