The Shippensburg University’s women’s outdoor track and field team made its final appearance in the regular season before it heads to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) meet in two weeks. SU hosted many teams for the 12th annual Paul Kaiser Classic on Saturday, April 30.

On the track, freshman Allison King led SU in both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. King placed second in the 100-meter with a time of 12.65 seconds and fourth in the 200-meter with a time of 25.71 seconds. Sophomore Lindsay Sheehan competed in the 100-meter as well and finished third with a time of 12.91 seconds.

Senior Megan Lundy claimed a victory in the 400-meter with a time of 56.99 seconds, while sophomore Kiana Tucker snagged a fourth place finish in the 800-meter (2:15.29). Junior Casey Norton had a great showing in the 1500-meter with a solid run of 4:40.99 which earned her a second place finish.

For the longer distanced races, freshman Jackie Kinkead took the win in the 3K with a time of 10:18.81. Sophomore Bryanna Dissinger and redshirt freshman Lizzie Manickas represented SU in the 5K with a second place time of 18:12.80 and a fifth place time of 18:53.40, respectively. Freshman Lindsey Gerlach finished third in the 3K steeple race with a time of 11:54.75. Redshirt freshman Hannah Fulton’s endurance was tested in the 10K race, but she finished strong for a second place time of 39:17.96.

Freshman Tatiana Purnell was the only SU hurdler to place in the top five with a fourth place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (1:04.99).

SU had a great showing in the jumping events with junior Sarah Hunt and freshman Abby Wagner leading the way in both the long and triple jump. Hunt had a meet record breaking long jump of 19’ 10 1/4”, with Wagner following close behind with a jump of 18’ 1 1/2”. Hunt had another meet record breaking performance in the triple jump with a mark of 40’ 1 1/4” while Wagner followed once again with a mark of 38’ 11 1/2”. Both Hunt and Wagner qualified for NCAA-Provisionals in the triple jump. Hunt took first place and Wagner took second place in both events.

Sophomore Kali Hepner represented SU in the pole vaulting event. Hepner tied for second place with a mark of 11’ 2 1/4”.

On the throwing fields, sophomore Tamara Ovejera led SU in both the shot put event and the hammer throw. Ovejera took first place in the shot put with a throw of 47’ 8” which broke both the meet and school record and was a qualifying mark for NCAA-Provisionals. Junior Paige Shirk placed third in shot put with a throw of 42’ 9 3/4”.

Ovejera’s hammer throw of 160’ 4” earned her a second place finish while sophomore Erin Doherty placed fourth with a throw of 146’ 5”.

Shirk made a memorable appearance in the discus with an event winning throw of 143’ 7”. Senior Brianna Davis threw 135’ 5” which earned her a third place finish.

One of the highlight of the meet was freshman Morgan DeFloria’s performance in the javelin event. Spending most of her time on the volleyball court as a member of the SU women’s volleyball team, the meet was DeFloria’s debut in the track and field realm. DeFloria’s first throw of the season marked 148’ 11”, which broke both the meet and the school record, and also qualified her for NCAA-Provisionals.

Sophomore Crystal Hartman had a great performance as well, placing third with an NCAA-Provisional qualifying mark of 146’ 10”. Senior Heather Bolick took fifth with a throw of 127’ 11”.

The women’s team has two weeks to prepare for the PSAC meet which will be held at Mansfield University on May 12-14.  

Share