Former Clarion-Limestone Runner, Morgan McNaughton, A Member Of The Saint Francis University Red Flash Makes All-Northeast Conference Women’s Cross Country Team, Joins Red Flash Teammates Anna Quackenbush And Rosie Gaydos As Team Finishes Third

Photos courtesy of Chuck McNaughton – (Above) Morgan proudly displaying her All-NEC Plaque

Morgan McNaughton, a former Clarion-Limestone standout, now competing for the NCAA Division I Saint Francis Red Flash has made the 2025 All-NEC Women’s Cross Country Team.

She and her Red Flash teammates finished third in the team standings. They hosted the Women’s and Men’s races which were run in Tyrone on Saturday, November 1st. Central Connecticut State finished first with 51 points. The Red Flash actually tied with Wagner at 67, for the second most team points, but Wagner claimed the second spot on a tie-breaker. Rounding out the Top 5 were Stonehill with 69 points and Mercyhurst with 159 points.

The Top 14 runners made All-Conference.

This is the second time in Morgan’s career that she has garnered this honor, having done so in 2023 finishing thirteenth with a time of 19:17.3.

This year, Morgan finished eighth, crossing the finish line with a time of 23:14.0.

Two of Morgan’s Saint Francis teammates, Anna Quackenbush and Rosie Gaydos also made the team. Anna finished fourth in 22:37.5, while Rosie came in with a 22:59.3, good for seventh place. This was Anna’s third time making All-NEC.

The last time the Red Flash had three runners in the top ten was 2018.

Nina Connors finished twentieth, with a time of 24:14.4.

Other members of the Red Flash women’s team were: Isabella Leger (28th, 24:47.5), Mackenzie Hirt (29th, 24:51.2), Sarah Colman (36th, 25:09.7), Abigail Sheehan (39th, 25:22.2), Ryan Wilson (43rd, 25:31.4), Jordan Dean (47th, 25:53.7), Savannah Hoover (48th, 25:54.8) and Lauren Lomago (57th, 26:49.7).

Saint Francis head coach Douglas Hoover shared some fine words about Morgan.

“Morgan has worked consistently for the last four years to develop into one of the top runners in the conference, and she has become one of the leaders on our team.

“I’m so happy and proud of her and her teammates. This was our third consecutive top-3 finish as a team, and 22nd overall. This is a tribute to their commitment to our program.”

Morgan shared, “I have been enjoying this last cross-country season, and I’m really grateful to have made my second All-NEC honor, alongside Anna Quackenbush (4th) and Rosie Gaydos (7th).”

As for some of the things that made this season special, Morgan said, “I would say my highlight of the semester racing-wise, would be my race at Gettysburg. I finally broke my previous 6K personal record of 22:40, and I beat it by running a 22:08, so it gave me a lot of confidence for NEC’s. I also got 8th place at Gettysburg, which was nice. I believe I’ve gotten 8th place in races three times this season, so it may be my new lucky number haha.

“All of the times, including my time, at “The Farm” (my coach’s parents’ farm, which was the NEC racing venue this year) were slower than normal because the course has a pretty challenging climb at the end of the first 1K of the 2K loop (which we ran three times). Despite the slow times, I was very happy with how I performed as well as how my team performed. As a team, we tied for second but lost the tie breaker to Wagner, and ended with 3rd place, which was our goal for our last year in the NEC.”

Coach Hoover deserves much of the credit for Morgan’s great career. “I don’t think I would have had the athletic success I’ve had in college if it weren’t for Coach Hoover. I also credit his decision to ban watches from races this season as a part of why I have raced so well.

“When we compare goals for upcoming races, he always picks a goal that is more challenging than what I picked for myself, and I think it’s really important to have a coach like that who always sees more in you than what you see in yourself.”

Her father, Chuck McNaughton has been there for Morgan on her journey. “My dad is also the same way, in that he always believes in me more than myself. He has gone to all of my meets this season except for our meet in Kentucky, and he’s always one of the loudest people cheering.”

Morgan is proud of her Saint Francis teammates, who have stuck with the program through a difficult time. “As far as my team goes, I couldn’t have chosen a better group of girls to train with. With the DI to DIII transition being announced, we expected some of the Women’s cross country team to transfer- understandably. Despite it, no one left.”

And the athletic commitment is matched by the commitment in the classroom.

“We also had the highest team GPA one or two semesters ago, which makes me even more grateful to be on a team that’s committed athletically and academically.”

The perfect fit at Saint Francis.

“When I committed to SFU, I wanted to run somewhere where I would initially be one of the slowest runners. At the time of my freshman year, I was around 10th on the team. When you want to get faster, it’s always good to train with people who are faster than you.

“Anna Quackenbush is a year younger than me, and ever since she has been running at SFU, she has pushed me to get faster to try to stay with her, along with many of my teammates who have since graduated. I think our team is great for that specifically – we love to support each other, but we are always there to push each other to get better.”

The change in course length this season presented a challenge.

“Since the NEC announced this summer that our conference meet would be a 6K, most of our workouts have been four miles, which was an adjustment from last year when our workouts for cross country were closer to three.

“Having those tougher workouts has helped build up our team’s physical endurance and mental strength to handle the longer distance, even though it’s only 1K longer.

“One thing I will not miss leaving Loretto in the spring is all of the hills that we run. The hills always help prepare us for racing, but sometimes I wish we were in a flatter part of the state. Any route we have that we run has at least two long, relatively steep hills and all you can do is keep going and think about the end haha.”

Morgan had a special shoutout.

“Off topic – but I’m so proud to see how Central Clarion has been performing in the years since I graduated. Adi Jackson has been doing so well, and I’m so excited to see how she improves as she moves to collegiate competition. I was amazed to see they qualified for states as a team. They have improved so much, and it’s great to see that the love of running continues to grow in the Clarion area.”

Morgan closed by sharing these special words of gratitude, “Overall, I would just say that I’m so grateful for my family, friends, teammates, coaches, and previous coaches, who have been there for me through my athletic journey. I would not have been able to survive these past 8 years of running without them.”

(Congratulations to Morgan and the rest of the Saint Francis Women’s Cross Country Team for these fantastic accomplishments!!!! Thanks to Chuck McNaughton for his photos and SFU Athletics and the NEC for their information!!)

(Note: The Saint Francis Men’s Team finished in ninth place. Carlos Cheruiyot finished in sixteenth place for the Saint Francis men’s team with a time of 26:38.6. Other runners included: Micah Brydon (thirty-sixth, 27:38.5), Collin Dreese (forty-fifth, 28:07.7), Wyatt Foster (sixty-sixth, 29:31.3), Aaron Tressler (sixty-eighth, 29:55.6), Michelangelo Piccirillo (sixty-ninth, 29:55.6), Thomas Presnar (seventy-sixth, 31:22.6), Ryan Young (seventy-eighth, 31:55.7) and Cael Konek (seventy-ninth, 32:17.7).)