Former Clarion-Limestone Standout Jack Craig Earns PSU-DuBois First Ever First Team USCAA Cross Country All-American Honor

Photos courtesy of Jessica Craig – Jack with Coach Creighton with Jack’s All-American Award

Jack Craig, who was a four sport standout for the Clarion-Limestone Lions, competing for Penn State – DuBois, earned Men’s First Team All-American Honors at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championship Cross Country Meet, held at Penn State – South Fayette, in Uniontown on Sunday, November 10th. In doing so, Jack becomes PSU – DuBois’ first ever USCAA First Team All-American.

Jack finished in sixth place. The Top seven runners are named to the First Team and the next seven are named to the Second Team.

Jack, who graduated from C-L this past spring, was a four year letterman in golf, cross country, basketball and baseball, receiving first team All-Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference (KSAC) honors for cross country and second team All-KSAC honors for basketball. He was chosen to play in the District 9 All-Star Game and received the KSAC Scholarship.

Current Central Clarion Wildcats Cross Country Coach Nicole Oakes was his coach with the Lions.

A Wikipedia entry states, “The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community / junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 national championships and 2 national invitationals annually.”

At first Jack was set to play another sport. “Originally, it was my goal to play basketball in college. I have spent my whole life in a gym. Both my mom and dad were collegiate athletes for Clarion University and both played basketball at the division II level. So, they have had me dribbling and playing since a very young age. Coach Creighton was actually my mom’s assistant college basketball coach and she has always spoke so highly of him and Gie Parsons, the head coach.”

The current state of collegiate athletics led to the change in course. “Due to COVID, a lot of colleges are running on 5th year seniors and that limited my chances of playing at the next level. No one is really recruiting a lot of guys right now because their rosters are full.”

Jack could tell that Coach Creighton would align with everything that he was looking for and what he was used to. “Coach Creighton is a lot like the coaches that I have been blessed with in high school. He is patient and I had learned very quickly that he is dedicated to helping all of his athletes. He shares his wisdom with all of us and has a zest for life that makes you want to keep working hard. You can tell that he believes in everyone he coaches. He finds ways to make them better and he has done that for me.”

Coach Creighton is very proud of Jack for this accomplishment. “Jack has achieved an incredible milestone by earning the prestigious title of 1st Team USCAA All-American after finishing 6th in the USCAA National Championships on Sunday, clocking a remarkable time of 29:04 in the 8K race – an impressive improvement of 2:10 from his time on the same course just a little over a month earlier. This achievement makes Jack the first men’s cross-country runner in the history of the Penn State DuBois campus to receive the honor of 1st Team USCAA All-American.

“I take great pride in coaching Jack. He exemplifies what it means to be a wonderful person, a supportive teammate, and a fierce competitor. His family provides him with incredible support, which is evident in how he approaches each day,” said his coach.

“Interestingly, I also had the pleasure of coaching Jack’s mother, Jessica (Smith) Craig, during my time as the assistant women’s basketball coach at Clarion University. It’s clear that Jack has inherited some of the same self-motivating traits.”

Coach Creighton shared about the school’s interest in getting athletes from the area. “At Penn State DuBois, our focus is on attracting local student-athletes. We firmly believe that there is an abundance of talent in the District 9 area capable of achieving greatness at higher levels. Jack serves as a shining example of this belief.”

The focus on local can be seen by those from the PSU-DuBois Cross Country Teams who ran along with Jack at Nationals.

For the Men: David Kunselman, who finished 28th with a time of 31:53.00, is from Punxsutawney. Nick Hays who came in in 44th at 33:55.90, is from St. Marys and Chase Hook who was 72nd with a 38:48.40 clocking, is from DuBois.

Tara Leamer who finished 54th in the Women’s race at 34:14. 30, is from Purchase Line.

Coach Oakes is super excited for Jack also. “I heard about Jack’s big race this past weekend. So proud of him.

“I was so excited about Jack even qualifying for the race this past weekend. This entire cross country season for him up in DuBois has been a wonderful redo of his senior year last year. He started off the season as one of if not the strongest in the league, but then was plagued with injuries that took him out of those big races that he had worked so hard for. Really glad that this year he has been able to see that hard work pay off!”

Jack shared, “I still play basketball every day and practice as though I am going to play again. It is still a goal of mine but another passion that I have and have always turned to was running.”

There are several folks that Jack single out as major, positive influences in his life. “I have spent countless hours with Coach Laguand on the basketball court since 7th grade. He has taken me from an athlete that didn’t believe in myself, to someone who has learned to not be afraid of failure. He always found time to work extra with me on my game and wanting to get better. He never gave up on me and still encourages me to this day.

“Being coached by Joe Ferguson and my dad at C-L, taught me a lot about character and who I wanted to be when I got older. They taught me not only the game of basketball but keeping God at the forefront of my life. They instilled in me that “hard work pays off.” I know eventually it does, but I was a little discouraged when I was sidelined last year from the end of my cross-country season due to a fall basketball injury. Things didn’t go the way I thought they would and I guess that is life.

“It’s all in how you look at the situation you are dealt with. You can choose to crumble and give up or you can try to make yourself better at the things you can control.

“My cross country coaches have had a lot to do with helping me achieve my goals. Their positivity and supportive outlook on life helped me to succeed when I stumbled and literally helped me to grow as they have been my running coaches since 7th grade.

“Their dedication to all of their athletes is unmatched as they didn’t just coach; they provided life lessons that shaped me into a much stronger individual.”

Jack concluded by saying, “I have been so lucky to have so many good coaches because they have taught me the power of resilience and hard work.

“Earning this award has made me want to dig deeper and continue to work harder for next year because there is always room for improvement in everything we do.”

(Congratulations to Jack on this great, historic Achievement!!!!)

USCAA MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY  – FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS

1.  NHTI – Eli Lemire (27:23), 2. Johnson & Wales University -Charlotte – Logan Shaffer (27:49), 3. State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF)  – Colin Flannery (28:15), 4. SUNY ESF – Korben Anderson (28:37), 5. JWU-Charlotte – Liam Robinson (28:53), 6. PSU DuBois – Jack Craig (29:04), 7. SUNY ESF – Aidan Watts (29:05)

USCAA MEN’S SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS

8.  Williamson – Bryan Hernandez (29:12), 9. JWU-Charlotte – Dillon Neely (29:26), 10. Paul Smith’s – Eliot Soderholm (29:33), 11. SUNY ESF – Tyler Anderson (29:42.6), 12. SUNY ESF – Hayden Bregg (29:58.1), 13. Christendom – Alexander Girata (29:58.2), 14. SUNY ESF – Dan Mack (30:05)

Men’s Top 5 Teams: 1. SUNY-ESF; 2. Johnson & Wales (N.C.);  3. Word of Life; 4. Paul Smith’s; 5. Lyon.

SOME INFORMATION FROM THE WOMEN’S RACE

Women’s Top 5 Teams: 1. SUNY-ESF; 2. Colorado Mountain College; 3. Penn State – Shenango; 4. Lyon; 5. Carlow.

The Women’s Individual Champion was Kaylee Dameron from Wright State Lake Campus, who had a time of 23:03.10.