On Jan. 17, the collegiate team headed to Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg, Ontario, taking part in the annual Ignite the Night 5 and 10K Snowshoe Races, which featured more than 150 snowshoe runners.

During the women’s 5-kilometer race, Paul Smith’s College student, Morgan Cheney of Prattsburg, placed first overall in the women’s 5K with a time of 34 minutes, 51 seconds. She was followed closely by Nancy McDonell of Cornwall, Ontario (34:52) in second, and Heather Lewis of Ottawa (35:09) in third.

PSC student Chloe Freund of Clinton placed fifth overall and second in the women’s open category to teammate Cheney in 35:19.

In the men’s 5K, the Bobcats’ Brock Boissey of Cadyville placed third overall in 30:00, earning second place in the open men’s category. Teammates Aidan Minihan of Newark, Delaware (30:27), and Cazimir Couble of Spofford, New Hampshire (30:32), were close behind, finishing in third and fourth, respectively in the open men’s 5K.

Paul Smith College’s Morgan Cheney races in the Ignite the Night Race on Jan. 17. (Provided photo)

In the men’s 10K, PSC’s Bryce Shannon of Sparrowbush placed third in the men’s open category in 45:51 and finished fourth overall in the 10K. Teammate Matt Matis of Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, placed fourth in the open category in 48:41, and sixth overall in the 10K.

The team then headed to The New Land Trust in Saranac and took part in the 5 and 10K snowshoe races at the Cock-A-Doodle Shoe on Jan. 18.

During that men’s 10K, Paul Smith’s National and World Champion, Eliot Soderholm of Reston, Virginia, won in a time of 49:56. Matis placed second in the 5K with a time of 28:32, followed by fellow PSC teammates Couble (31:34) in third and Aidan Minihan of Newark, Delaware (31:42) in fourth.

Cheney placed fourth overall for the women in the 5K with a time of 41:03, followed by Freund in 50:45. A total of 10 students from Paul Smith’s College took part in the Cock-A-Doodle Shoe, with nine taking part in the 5K distance.

Despite the extreme cold and severe wind chill temperatures on Jan. 25, PSC headed to the Tug Hill Region for the Stonewall Snowshoe Races to the Winona State Forest, near Mannsville.

Nearly 70 athletes took part in the 5 and 10K races, but nearly half of the entrants stayed away due to the weather conditions.

Shannon won the men’s 10K in 1:07:45, his first snowshoe race victory. Shannon is the Junior Men’s National Champion and the Junior Men’s World Champion, despite only beginning snowshoe racing two months ago. Matis placed second in the men’s 10K with a time of 1:08:53.

Minihan won his first snowshoe race outright, winning the Stonewall 5K in 36:23, with teammate Couble not far behind in 37:41 to place third overall. Boissey placed fourth in 40:04, with Reece Perry of Malone was fifth in 41:55. Noah Keys of LeRoy also placed in the top 10, finishing ninth in 45:35.

On the women’s side. Cheney placed second overall in the 5K with a time of 42:52. Cheney has gotten off to a very strong start to her initial snowshoe racing season, after overcoming nagging injuries through the cross-country racing season.

Freund placed seventh overall for the women in 49:29, followed by Joanna Kerchner of Bath, Pennsylvania, in 51:39 for 10th place.

The PSC snowshoe team is gearing up for the 2026 Canadian Snowshoe Nationals taking place on Sunday at Fenelon Falls, Ontario. The Canadian National Championships will include both the 5 and 10K distances.