Athletes from Shippensburg University’s track-and-field outdoor team opened up their seasons at Elizabethtown College on Saturday for the Early Bird Opener.
For the most part, throwers competed at the event in a warmup as the new season began. It was a successful day for the throwers, with many reaching Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)-qualifying marks and sweeping first through third place in each event. They managed to perform well on a cold day with strong winds.
In the women’s shot put, sophomore Ashley Kerr took first with her 12.66-meter throw, followed by freshman Kate Matrisciano throwing 12.29 meters for second place and freshman Madisen Kling for third with her 11.66-meter throw. All three also met the PSAC outdoor-qualifying marks.
Kling, Matrisciano and Kerr came back and took first through third, respectively, in the discus as well. Kling reached 42.24 meters and Matrisciano threw 36.67 meters for PSAC-qualifying times. Kerr was just shy of the qualifying mark with a 34.27-meter throw.
The women’s javelin squad did well with senior Morgan DeFloria taking first place with a 45.40-meter throw – an NCAA-provisional mark. Freshman Kerri Gearhart took second with a 38.76-meter throw, and senior Emma Dolan took fourth place and an early PSAC-qualifying mark with a 37.53-meter throw.
In the men’s shotput, Shippensburg took first, second and third, thanks to freshmen Yobani Moreno (13.71 meters), Patrick Maloney (13.11 meters) and Brooks Bear (12.75 meters), respectively. Moreno’s effort was enough to earn another PSAC qualifier for the Raiders.
Men’s discus swept places one through six with the Top 4 all hitting PSAC marks. Maloney returned to throw 43.38 meters for first place. Yobani took second with a 42.57-meter throw, while junior Antonio Civetta took third with a 42.09-meter throw, followed by freshman Joshua Herbster in fourth with 39.96 meters.
In the men’s hammer throw, senior Tyler Hewitt took first with a 46.00-meter throw followed by Herbster in second throwing 42.69 meters, both earning PSAC marks.
DeFloria is looking to make it back to the outdoor track-and-field nationals for the fourth straight year.
Shippensburg took the top four spots in the men’s javelin, as junior Thomas Haas led the way with a first-place performance of 60.89 meters. Junior Alec Stimson took second with a 53.56-meter throw, followed by Herbster with 52.83 meters for third in his third event of the competition. All three met PSAC standards for more Raider conference qualifiers.
The rest of the Shippensburg track-and-field athletes will be ready to open up their outdoor season this weekend at the Fred Harvey Invitational meet at Richmond University in Virginia.
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