Shippensburg women’s outdoor track and field team places third in PSAC meet
MILLERSVILLE — The Shippensburg University women’s outdoor track & field team completed the 2022 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a third-place team finish, scoring 87 points in competition held at Millersville University.
SU made a Saturday charge for a team trophy, but finished 6.3 points behind second-place Slippery Rock. The Raiders managed to finish two points ahead of fourth-place Cal U. in the team standings. Millersville claimed the 2022 team championship with a score of 113 points.
The Raiders won one event, claiming the 4×100-meter relay gold as Adriana Baxter (Philadelphia/Parkway Northwest), Sara McKean (Shinglehouse/Oswayo Valley), Kayla Dalhouse (Middletown, Md./Middletown) and Leah Graybill (Lititz/Warwick) turned in a time of 46.80 seconds to win by more than seven-tenths of a second.
Boosting the Raider score were 12 individual scoring efforts on Saturday, including multiple All-PSAC (Top 3) performances. Graybill finished the day with All-PSAC efforts in both of her individual events, placing second in the 200 meters with a time of 24.61 seconds and third in the 400 meters with a time of 57.44 seconds.
In total, Graybill had a hand in four All-PSAC performances, as she ran on the 4×400-meter relay that featured Dalhouse, Caroline Mastria (Sykesville, Md./Century) and Lieke Black (Ambler/Wissahickon) that ended the meet with a third-place time of 3:53.99. Individually, Mastria ran fourth in the 400 meters with a time of 57.74 seconds, and Black finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:04.63.
Kyra Gerber (Dillsburg/Northern York) had an excellent conclusion to her mid-distance career with a pair of scoring efforts on Saturday, including an All-PSAC third-place finish in the 1,500 meters of 4:42.08. Gerber came back later in the day and delivered a seventh-place finish in the 800 meters of 2:19.57.
Sasha Lee (Philadelphia/Saint Basil Academy) capped off a banner debut PSAC outdoor meet with two more scoring performances, giving her three Top 5 finishes for the weekend after taking fourth in the long jump on Friday. Lee finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles, running 14.85 seconds, and claimed runner-up honors in the triple jump with an All-PSAC mark of 37 feet, 7 ¼ inches.
Joining Lee on the triple-jump awards stand was Jenna Lytle (Altoona/Altoona Area), who made it back-to-back years scoring in the event with a fourth-place jump of 36 feet, 7 inches.
Abby Reasoner (Kutztown/Kutztown Area) delivered a personal best in the javelin to earn a fourth-place finish. Reasoner’s top throw traveled 134 feet, 10 inches and came on her second attempt. She came close to matching it on her final throw, which soared 133 feet, 7 inches.
Kate Matrisciano (Whippany, N.J./Whippany Park (Sacred Heart)) came through with a season best in the shotput, as her throw of 44 feet, 3 ¼ inches resulted in sixth place.
Overall, SU scored in 14 of the 21 events contested at the championships, with Lee and Lytle’s 14 combined points in the triple jump making it the highest-scoring event of the meet for the Raiders.
Shippensburg University men’s track team takes 13th consecutive PSAC title
MILLERSVILLE — The Shippensburg University men’s outdoor track & field team won its 13th consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship on Saturday, extending its league-record streak to conclude three days of competition at Millersville University.
Shippensburg won 10 of the 21 events and scored in 19, resulting in a team score of 200 points. It is only the sixth time in PSAC history that a team has scored 200 or more points at an outdoor conference championship, all having been achieved by the Raiders (273 points in 2021, 205 points in 2017, 208.5 points in 2016, 244 points in 2015, meet-record 278 points in 2014).
SU also swept the major awards at this year’s championships.
Aaron Arp Jr. (Harrisburg/Central Dauphin East) was named the PSAC Championships Outstanding Track Athlete after winning the PSAC title in the 400 meters with an NCAA provisional qualifier of 47.03 seconds (13th in D2) and running on the PSAC championship-winning 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays.
Pat Maloney (Collegeville/Methacton) was named the PSAC Championships Outstanding Field Athlete after winning the discus on Friday with a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifier, placing sixth in the shot put on Saturday and placing seventh in the hammer throw on Thursday.
Stephon Brown (Harrisburg/Central Dauphin East) was named the PSAC Championships Most Valuable Athlete after competing in four events and winning four PSAC championships. Individually, Brown won PSAC titles on Saturday in the 100 meters (10.52) and 200 meters (new personal best of 21.32). He also worked his magic on the PSAC championship-winning 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays.
Brown’s performance puts him in rare company in league history, as he can now claim conference championships in five different events having won the 400-meter title last season. In his two outdoor seasons as a Raider, Brown has competed in seven events and won seven conference championships – including the 4×100-meter relay and 4×400-meter relay both years.
Joining Brown as an All-PSAC performer in both the 100 meters and 200 meters and on both relays was Eric Kirk (Coatesville/Coatesville Area), who placed third in each of the open events. Kirk ran the 100 in 10.85 seconds and the 200 in 21.81 seconds. It’s the second straight All-PSAC effort in the 100 meters and the second straight conference title in the 4×1 relay for Kirk.
An integral aspect of both conference championship relays on Saturday was Mason Boyd (Macungie/Emmaus), who ended up serving as a replacement leg on each relay. Boyd, who competed on Thursday and Friday in the 10-event decathlon and placed second with a PR score of 6,308 points, was called upon to be the second leg of the 4×1 and the third leg of the 4×4.
Arp’s 400-meter title was an impressive one, as he improved his season best to 47.03 seconds. The performance moves him into the Top 15 on the national performance list pending other results throughout the country and will have him in the mix for a national championships qualification.
Despite not being at 100 percent this weekend, Drew Dailey (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) battled with the league’s best to successfully defend his conference championships in both the 800 meters and the 1,500 meters. Dailey won the 800 in a photo finish, running 1:51.06 to defeat IUP’s Kendall Branan by .04 seconds. Earlier in the day, Dailey kicked to win the 1,500 meters in 3:53.79. He becomes the first Raider to win multiple conference titles in the 1,500 meters since John Somers won in 2003 and 2005.
The SU throws contingent had a good week at the conference championships and capped off a banner three days of work on Saturday. Not only did all five SU competitors score in the shot put, but all produced either season bests or personal bests with their throws.
In 17 years as the head coach of the Shippensburg men’s and women’s track & field programs, Dave Osanitsch has guided the Raiders to 45 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships (24 outdoors, 21 indoors). The rest of the PSAC has combined to win just 19 league titles in that span.
Shippensburg baseball team gets five all-PSAC nods, coach of the year
SHIPPENSBURG — The Shippensburg University baseball team had five of its players named to the All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division teams, and Matt Jones was named the PSAC Eastern Division Coach of the Year. Voting is conducted by the league’s head coaches.
Joe Barbera (Harrisburg/Bishop McDevitt) was named to the All-PSAC Eastern Division First Team at second base, while four Raiders: senior third baseman Justin Darden (Mountain Top/Crestwood), relief pitcher Jackson LoBianco (Irvine, Cal./University), outfielder Ben Werkheiser (Doylestown/Germantown Academy (Delaware)) and starting pitcher Nick Zegna (Newark, Del./Newark (George Mason)) were named to the All-PSAC Eastern Division Second Team at their respective positions.
