The second day of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship held many victories and triumphs for the Red Raiders of Shippensburg University.
The SU men’s team had 11 competitors make it to the podium on Friday, May 13, two of which were first place holders.
On the track, senior Chris Mullin was the champion of the 3,000 meter steeple chase with a final time of 9:24.61. Junior Calvin Conrad-Kline followed behind with a seventh place finish, running the race in 9:46.20.
Junior Tim Usher was a seventh place finisher as well, running a strong 1:54.08 in the 800-meter.
On the field, sophomore Bryan Pearson was deemed the champion of the shot put event with a throw of 55 feet 3 1/2 inches. Sophomore Alec Rideout followed close behind and earned a second place finish with his throw of 55 feet 1 inches. Junior Caleb Bartlett placed sixth in the shot put event, throwing 49 feet 3 1/2 inches.
Of the top eight finishers in the hammer throw, SU had four representatives. Bartlett came in second (191 feet), graduate student Wulf Sutcliffe placed third (177 feet 11 inches), Pearson placed fifth (168 feet 6 inches) and senior Garrett Vandebrake placed seventh (165 feet 8 inches).
SU’s pole vaulters, junior Connor McHugh and sophomore Pat Manna, placed fifth with a jump of 14 feet 9 inches and seventh with a jump of 14 feet 3 1/4 inches, respectively.
After a long two days of jumping, running and throwing, junior Danny Meyer finished second in the decathlon after having had earned a total of 6,246 points.
SU had many qualifiers in the prelims of the 100-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter, 110-meter hurdles and the 4x100 relay.
The day was a big one for sophomore Dru Adighibe who broke the school record in both the 100-meter and 200-meter. Adighibe is currently seeded first in both events with a 100-meter time of 10.44 seconds and 200-meter time of 21.01 seconds. His time in the 200-meter broke the conference record as well, and his time in the 100-meter qualifies him for NCAA-Provisionals. Freshman Chris Craig and senior RJ Smith will compete in the finals of the 100-meter alongside Adighibe.
Sophomore Ricky Meriwether is the sole SU runner in the 400-meter final, while freshman Ori Rinaman and junior Terry Jackson will take on the 110-meter hurdles final.
Senior Devon Fisher, sophomore Tra-C Davis, Adighibe and Smith will represent SU in the finals of the 4x100 relay race.
For the women’s team, there were a total of 10 competitors who made it to the podium, including one champion.
On the field, sophomore Tamara Ovejera was able to out throw the competition to become the women’s shot put champion. Ovejera threw 47 feet 4 1/2 inches. Fellow teammate sophomore Erin Doherty claimed eighth place in the same event with a throw of 41 feet 7 inches.
Like the men’s team, the women had a strong presence in the hammer throw. Senior Sam Nelson led the way with a third place finish throw of 147 feet 9 inches while Ovejera followed in fourth place (146 feet 9 inches) and Doherty followed in fifth place (144 feet 5 inches).
At the jumping pit, junior Sarah Hunt secured second place with a mark of 19 feet 11 inches. Sophomore Danielle Sciremammano finished fourth with a mark of 18 feet 6 1/2 inches and freshman Abby Wagner finished sixth with a mark of 18 feet 3 3/4 inches.
On the track, junior Abby Shafer snagged a fifth place finish in the 800-meter (2:17.26) and sophomore Bryanna Dissinger made it to the podium with an eighth place finish in the 3,000 meter steeple chase (11:45.68).
Junior Samantha Johnson and freshman Erica Helm placed sixth and seventh in the heptathlon, respectively. Johnson tallied 4,036 points and Helm tallied 3,921 points.
Qualifiers for Saturday finals include sophomore Jill Bertino and freshman Allison King in the 100-meter, sophomore Lindsay Sheehan in the 200-meter, sophomore Kiana Tucker and senior Megan Lundy in the 400-meter, Sciremammano in the 100-meter hurdles, freshman Tatiana Purnell in the 400-meter hurdles and Hunt, Sciremammano, King and Sheehan in the 4x100 relay race.
With two out of the three days of competition finished, both SU’s men’s and women’s teams are leading the conference in total team points. The men’s team leads with 84 points and the women’s team leads with 52 points. Competition will resume Saturday at 11 a.m.
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