The Shippensburg University men’s track and field athletes received a myriad of honors at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The championships, which took place in Bradenton, Florida, spanned a three-day period, with the finals taking place on Saturday, May 28.
On Day 1, junior Caleb Bartlett, who is the Shippensburg University record holder in the hammer throw, threw 192 feet and 1 inch. The nine finalists whose throws surpassed Bartlett’s all cleared 200 feet, where Bartlett’s school record stands at 200 feet and 6 inches. Bartlett’s throw earned him All-American Second Team honors. Entering this season, the SU school record for the hammer throw was 185 feet, 5 inches. Bartlett smashed that record in seven of the eight meets this season.
Sophomore Dru Adighibe, who holds SU’s school record in the 100-meter, ran a time of 10.67 seconds in the final preliminary heat. Adighibe finished 19th. In his first season with SU, Adighibe made a tremendous impact on both the indoor and outdoor squad. He was the first 100-meter runner to compete at nationals for SU in the last five years. For his efforts, his peers in the conference recognized him, as Adighibe took home the prestigious honor of PSAC Outdoor Track and Field MVP.
For the women’s team, junior Sarah Hunt leaped into ninth in the long jump with a jump of 19 feet and 9 3/4 inches. Hunt had tied another jumper for eighth place but lost the tiebreaker. Her jump at the NCAA Championships was just six centimeters shy of her personal record. Hunt’s PR is also the school record, set at 20 feet and 1/4 inches. For her performance in Florida, Hunt was named All-American.
On Day 2, Friday, May 27, Shippensburg’s athletes had a field day. Sophomore Bryan Pearson had several throws that would have placed him in the finals, but his best throw sat at 173 feet and 7 inches. Pearson finished in sixth-place in the discus, joining Matt Peters (2003) and Ryan Hart (2014) as the only SU athletes to become an All-American First Team. This performance capped off a season where Pearson broke the PSAC record in the discus and went on to win the event with a throw of 181 feet and 10 inches.
Jalen Ramsey and Tra-C Davis were a dangerous duo for Shippensburg this season, pacing the conference with their respective high jumps. In Florida, they both cleared 6 feet and 8 3/4 inches after some confusion in the order of jumpers, which caused Ramsey to have to nearly jump consecutively. Tiebreakers placed Davis at 11th-place and Ramsey at 13th. Davis, a sophomore, was named All-American Second Team for the first time in his Shippensburg career.
On Day 2 of competition for the women, Hunt placed 13th in the triple jump with a mark of 40 feet and 2 inches, which is a personal record. On her third jump, she appeared to have set another personal record, but the line judge called a foul. A request for a video review was denied.
Sophomore Tamara Ovejera finished with a mark of 149 feet and 2 inches in the discus, which placed her r ninth overall.
On Saturday, May 28, the third day of competition, Derek Nothstein competed in the javelin, throwing 211 feet and 4 inches. The impressive throw landed Nothstein in sixth place, giving him his second All-American title of his SU career. Only eight SU athletes in history have ever had more than one All-American performance.
Sophomore Alec Rideout set a new personal best in the shot put on day three, with a distance of 56 feet and 1 inch. Rideout just missed out on reaching the finals, but his second shot of the day was good enough to grab 10th-place. Rideout received All-American Second Team honors for his efforts.
Pearson also competed in the shot put, as he managed to throw 52 feet and 3 3/4 inches. Pearson’s shot placed him 20th.
For the women, sophomore Crystal Hartman broke her personal record twice in the same day, beating it by more than four feet. She also took 11th place in the javelin, with a throw of 151 feet, her new personal record. Hartman’s tremendous improvement earned her All-American Second Team honors for the first time in her collegiate career.
Freshman Morgan DeFloria threw the javelin at just her third career meet, taking 15th-place. Her throw of 145 feet and 7 inches was short of her automatic PSAC qualifying throw.
In her first outdoor season, Ovejera left her mark. On her first shot put throw of the day, she threw 45 feet and 4 1/2 inches. Ovejera’s throw placed her in 19th-place, as she walks away from this season as a conference champion and national qualifier in more than one event.
The championships capped off a successful season for the Red Raiders. For the men, Shippensburg had two All-American First Team performers (Top-8) and three All-American Second Team performers (9-12). The Women finished with two athletes receiving All-American Second Team Honors.
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