The Shippensburg University men’s outdoor track and field broke many conference and school records at the track and field meet held at Bucknell University this past weekend. The day marked one of the most successful days in SU history.
Sophomore Bryan Pearson and junior Kieran Sutton were the highlights of the first day of competition, with Pearson breaking a conference record and Sutton breaking SU’s oldest record on the books.
Pearson broke the 45-year-old conference record in the discus with a throw of 181 feet and 10 inches.
The impressive throw earned him a first place win and an automatic spot in the NCAA competition, which will be held in Florida this May.
Sutton broke the school record in the 10K with a time of 29:14.62, which placed him in third at the meet. His time guarantees him a spot in the NCAA competition as well.
Sophomore Alex Balla also had a great showing in the 10K, with an NCAA Provisional qualifying run of 30:35.75.
Senior Chris Mullin qualified for NCAA Provisionals in the 3K steeple run with a time of 9:12.92. Mullin placed fifth in the event.
Senior Ryan Hart competed alongside Pearson in the discus and also performed well, with an NCAA Provisional qualifying throw. Hart placed third with a mark of 163 feet and 1 inch.
Junior Derek Nothstein led SU in the javelin with a sixth-place finish. Nothstein threw an NCAA Provisional qualifying throw of 203 feet and 2 inches.
The second day of competition held even more accomplishments for the Raiders.
Sophomore Dru Adighibe took first place in both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. Adighibe broke the 200-meter record a second time this past weekend with a time of 21.28 seconds. Senior RJ Smith competed in the 100-meter dash as well and finished eighth.
Sophomore Pat Manna and junior Connor McHugh competed in the pole vault and placed seventh and eighth, respectively.
Sophomore Alec Rideout and Pearson both threw NCAA Provisional qualifying marks in the shot put event. Rideout threw 55 feet and 7 and 1/2 inches which earned him second place and Pearson threw 52 feet and 10 and 3/4 inches for a fourth place finish.
Junior Caleb Bartlett finished fourth and graduate student Wulf Sutcliffe finished fifth in the hammer throw event. Both of their throws qualified for NCAA Provisionals.
Shippensburg will host seven teams this Wednesday, April 20, for the SU Invitational set to start at 3 p.m.
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