The Shippensburg University men’s and women’s track-and-field teams were successful at home in the Fifth Annual SU Collegiate Invitational held at Seth Grove Stadium on Wednesday.

The energy and weather was great on the home track where 25 athletes grabbed their PSAC qualifiers. 

The SU track-and-field teams always look forward to this meet because there are usually many personal bests and season bests earned on the team’s home field. The team calls it Uncle Dave’s Midweek PR bonanza.

The day started strong for the Raiders, as junior Zarria Willams earned the nation’s second-best mark so far this season in the long jump with her 20-foot, 1-inch jump. Her showing also gave her the highest mark in the conference.

Sophomore Ali Wyland broke her own school record once again in the 100-meter race with a 12.02-second finish, placing her third in the PSAC. Wyland is pushing though the final weeks of the season with an injury. 

Sophomore Rachel Bruno has stepped up for the Raiders this year, running 57.79 in the 400-meter dash, moving her to third in the PSAC. Bruno also ran 25.35 in the 200-meter race. 

Senior Tatiana Purnell ran 1:03.78 in the 400-meter hurdles and is now placed second in the PSAC. Higgins is followed closely in the conference by junior Jordan Higgins who sits in fourth with her 1:05.18-second race.

Sophomore Isabella Marchini improved her PSAC time in the 800-meter race with her 2:22.76 time shortly before running 18:25.59 in the 5K and grabbing another conference qualifier. 

The women’s 4x400 team currently sits second in the PSAC with a finish of 3:58.39 at the Wednesday meet with redshirt-sophomore Dior Alston, freshman Kayla Gonzalez, Bruno and Purnell. 

Junior Sarah Bourdon sits fourth in the PSAC with her 3.50-meter pole vault jump on Wednesday. 

Freshman Madisen Kling threw 44.05 meters on Wednesday in the women’s discus to take second in the conference.

For the men, senior Chris Craig ran 10.67 seconds in the 100-meter race and currently sits at second in the PSAC. Freshman Roland Miles also improved his time and sits third in the PSAC with his 10.69-second finish.

Redshirt-freshman Aaron Arp Jr. improved his 200-meter time of 21.29 last week and stands at second in the conference.

Junior Charles Bowman improved his 400-meter hurdles time, running 52.51 to place second in the conference behind teammate Johnathan Stiles. Bowman also claimed first in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.52 seconds. Both marks were national qualifiers.

The men’s 4x100 meter relay team is ranked first in the conference after this weekend with its 41.13 second performance. 

There was amazing energy on the runway as redshirt-freshmen Shamar Jenkins grabbed a Top 10 mark in the triple jump, falling just shy of the 50-foot mark. His jump of 49 feet, 8 1/2 inches was a new personal best.

Junior Cam Strohe improved his distance in the men’s shot put by throwing 14.81 meters and currently stands at seventh in the event after this week. Strohe also sits at third in the discus and second in hammer. 

The Shippensburg track-and-field teams are taking steps in the right direction and are continuing to look even better going into the conference championships in three weeks. 

Next for the Raiders is the Paul Kaiser meet at Seth Grove Stadium on Saturday.

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