Red Raider Track to Defend Indoor Championship This Weekend at East Stroudsburg
Feb. 24, 2006
By PETE NEVINS
of The Pocono Record
EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. - A total of 21 former champions, 17 from last year, will head the field for the fifth annual Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Indoor Track and Field Championships Saturday and Sunday at East Stroudsburg University.
Competition will run Saturday from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m., and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with the running and jumping events in the LeRoy J. Koehler Fieldhouse and the weight events in the Zimbar-Liljenstein Gymnasium.
All 14 PSAC schools will be represented in the women’s division while 13 teams, all except Edinboro, will have teams in the men’s division.
Shippensburg, last year’s champion, and Lock Haven, the three-time winner from 2002-04, should battle it out for the men’s title with Kutztown and Slippery Rock also in the mix.
The men’s field is headed by sprinter Bradley Rager of California, who won both the 200 and 400-meter dashes last year, junior Richard Hanslovan (Morrisdale, Pa./West Branch) of Shippensburg, who captured the mile and 3,000 in conference record time and was named the meet’s outstanding male athlete, and Preston Gibbs of Slippery Rock, first in the long jump and triple.
Other 2005 champions in the running events are Kareef Wallace, who won the 55-meter dash for Kutztown last year but has since transferred to West Chester, Sean Strauman of IUP, who set a conference record of 1:55.05 in the 800, and two-time champion Aaron Benson of Lock Haven, who ran the 5,000 in a PSAC record 14:58.87.
Returning in the field events are defending champions, high jumper Jim Dempsey of Lock Haven, pole vaulter Tim Tray of Slippery Rock, shot putter Steve Tyson of Kutztown and weight thrower Fieldon Daubert of Lock Haven.
In addition, there are three other 2004 champions back in Greg McGhee of Bloomsburg, who swept the 55 and 200, senior Kenrick Marsh (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) of Shippensburg, first in the 800, and Chris Cummings of Mansfield, the mile champion.
Now a senior, Jermaine Clayton of IUP won the 55-meter title as a freshman in 2003 with a conference record time of 6.42 which still stands.
Clayton is the top seed in the 55 with a 6.45 time. He should be challenged by Cyrus Wesley of Cheyney, 6.46, Jamal James of Shippensburg, 6.47, and Wallace, 6.47.
The 200 race should be a battle among top-seed James, 22.48, Wesley, 22.57, Rager, 22.68, and freshman Michael Turner of Kutztown, 22.76.
In the 400, Rager will match his top seed time of 49.42 against teammates Tony Hegedus, who has gone 49.43, and Matt Carroll of Kutztown, 49.55.
Strauman is the top seed in the 800 at 1:52.57, sixth in the nation and more than two seconds better than his conference mark. Freshman Kip Horbal of Lock Haven, 1:56.43, and Adam Malloy of Millersville, 1:57.23, have the next best times.
Hansloven’s dominance in the middle distances could be in question as he isn’t going to run the mile and he isn’t listed in the top five seeds in the 3,000.
Senior John Somers (Greencastle, Pa./James Buchanan) of Shippensburg has the top time in the mile, 4:14.74, followed by freshman Jeff Weiss of Slippery Rock, 4:18.36, and Cory Spidell of Lock Haven, 4:18.77.
Billy Buckenmeyer of Lock Haven is the top seed in the 3,000 at 8:26.73, under Hanslovan’s PSAC record 8:31.18, with Weiss, 8:36.56, and Chris Robson of Lock Haven, 8:38.07, next best.
Top seed Ryan Blood of Lock Haven has run 30 seconds better than the conference records in the 5,000 at 14:27.87. Cummings, 14:55.34, and two-time winner Benson, 14:59.34, can’t be counted out.
Talented freshman Paul Martin of Lock Haven has the conference’s top time in the 55-meter hurdles at 7.59 followed by Shayne Cooper of Slippery Rock, 7.66, and Michael Rucker of host East Stroudsburg, 7.74.
Gibbs will be defending his title in both the horizontal jumps. The long jump has five competitors within a foot with Nehemiah Leary of West Chester the leader at 23-11 1⁄4 followed by Chris Gardner of IUP, 23-3 1⁄2, and freshman Michael Turner of Kutztown and Eric Broadbent of West Chester, both at 23-1 3/4. Gibbs’ season best is 22-11.
Broadbent has the best performance of the season in the triple jump at 48-8 1⁄4, sixth in the nation, ahead Gibbs, 47-6 1⁄4, and Clayton, 46-3.
Dempsey holds the highest national ranking of any of the meet’s competitors, listed as fourth among NCAA Division II high jumpers, at 7-1 3⁄4. He should challenge the PSAC record of 6-10 1⁄2. Broadbent has done 6-11 and Ivans Lurops of Lock Haven 6-9.
Tray is favored to repeat in the pole vault with season best of 15-7 1/2, but Steve Winters of Kutztown, who has vaulted 15-6, and perhaps Joe Labarbera of Slippery Rock and Brian Dodds and Michael Provenzano, both of Kutztown, all at 15-3, could dethrone him.
There are three 50-foot shot putters in the field in Tyson, 52-6, Eric Price of Slippery Rock, 51-5, and freshman David Green (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro) of Shippensburg, 50-9.
Junior Nathan Reider (York, Pa./Dallastown) of Shippensburg has thrown 55-11 in the weight throw, almost three feet better than the conference record of 53-2. Daubert, 51-2, Price, 51-1 3⁄4, and sophomore Mark Anderson (Nanty Glo, Pa./Central Cambria) of Shippensburg, 50-8, also will be contenders.
The pentathlon title should be a battle among top seed Paul Schwab of Slippery Rock, 3,548 points, and Shawn Clancy of Lock Haven, 3,444. Ian Clark of Kutztown, 3,030, and Dan Benner of ESU, 3,015, also have bettered 3,000 points.
Kutztown is the defending champion in the 4 x 400-meter relay and lists two runners, Hegedus and Steve Hixson, on its current relay team. The Golden Bears have the conference season-best time of 3:20.22 ahead of Lock Haven, 3:21.62, and Shippensburg, 3:23.06.
Lock Haven has the top time in the 4 x 800-meter relay of 7:55.40 ahead of ESU, 8:11.22 and Shippensburg, 8:14.57, which lists only Marsh returning from its 2005 title-winning team.
Three members of ESU championship distance relay return in Drew Nesbitt, Rob Innis and Iuri Pinto. Shippensburg has the top seed in the event, however, at 10:12.05 ahead of ESU’s 10:18.95, and Lock Haven, 10:23.72.
- Red Raider Track and Field -
