This past weekend, the Shippensburg University outdoor track-and-field teams celebrated several historical record-breaking performances. 

On Thursday and Friday, a select group of Raiders traveled to Susquehanna’s Riverhawk Multi at the Doug Arthur Stadium. 

For the men’s team on Thursday, junior Noah Bankert and sophomore Tyler Rossi finished the first half of the decathlon. 

Due to the pool of competition in Susquehanna, the meet divides participants into orange and maroon groups. Bankert competed in the maroon division while Rossi was up against those in the orange bracket. 

The first half of the event involved the 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meters. 

Bankert reached 20 feet, 7 inches, for a new personal record (PR) in the long jump. He also earned a new PR in shot put when he threw 29 feet, 6 inches. 

For the more “elite” group, Rossi placed third in the shot put against competitors in the orange section, also achieving a new PR. He threw 39 feet, 10.5 inches.

On Friday, the two Raiders finished off the decathlon competing in 110 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1,500 meter. 

Bankert received first in his javelin throw of 144 feet, 7 inches. He placed eighth overall in the maroon division to qualify for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships.

Rossi placed second in the 1,500 meter with a time of 4:53:32 and discus at 127 feet, 6 inches. He secured 13th overall in the orange division, also qualifying for the PSAC Championships. 

The team only sent one woman to compete in the heptathlon on Thursday and Friday. 

On Thursday, sophomore Kaitlin Calvello placed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with a new PR of 16.91 seconds. 

She also posted second in the high jump, shot put and 200 meters of the maroon division. 

On Friday, she won the heptathlon after a first-place finish in the long jump at 17 feet, 2.25 inches, and a new personal best in javelin with 81 feet. She posted 3,994 points, moving to the No. 9 spot in school history.  

On Saturday and Sunday, more competitors from each team qualified for PSACs during the Bison Outdoor Classic hosted at Bucknell’s Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. 

For the women, sophomore Shaela Kruskie ran the invitational 5k in 17:05.19, qualifying her for PSACs and ranking her No. 6 all-time at SU. 

Sophomore Riyah Whigham earned the No. 6-all time spot at SU, too, but in her PSAC qualifying triple jump at 39 feet, 3 inches. 

The men also found success on Saturday and Sunday, setting four school records. 

Junior Tommy Crum Jr. broke both the SU record and the PSAC record in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:43.93. 

The previous school record had been set in 1980 during the NCAA Division II National Championships and sat at 3:45.64 for the last 46 years. 

Crum Jr. ran 1.7 seconds faster and earned an NCAA provisional qualifier. 

Freshman Ke’Aune Green tied another PSAC record, the 200 meters with a time of 20.96 seconds. He beat the SU record by 0.22 seconds and earned an NCAA provisional qualifier. 

A couple more Raiders broke an SU record to earn NCAA provisional qualifiers. Junior Gabriel Lewis ran the 100 meters in 10.31 seconds on Sunday, and junior Gian Greggo placed third in shot put with a throw of 59 feet, 8.5 inches, on Saturday.  

Other NCAA provisional qualifiers included senior Garrett Quinan in the 10K (29:37.90), sophomore Jackson Hersh in javelin (207 feet) and sophomore Aiden Zimmerman also in javelin (202 feet, 8 inches). 

This Thursday, the Raiders will host Uncle Dave’s Midweek PR Bonanza at Seth Grove Stadium. 

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