Shippensburg Men's Track Wins Second-Straight PSAC Indoor Championship
Feb. 26, 2006
EAST STROUDSBURG,
Pa. - On the strength of four individual championships and seven
runner-up finishes, the Shippensburg University men's track and field
team won its second-straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)
Indoor Championship Sunday afternoon at East Stroudsburg
University. The Red Raiders totaled 144 points, 29 ahead of second-place
Lock Haven University.
Under first-year head coach Dave Osanitsch, Shippensburg becomes the
second school to win back-to-back championships after Lock Haven won
three-straight from 2002-04. Shippensburg and Lock Haven are the only
two schools to have captured indoor titles in the five-year history of
the event.
Highlighting the team's performances on Sunday were victories by sophomore
Jamal James (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) in the 200-meter dash and
senior John Somers (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) in 1-mile run. On Saturday,
senior Dan Helfrick (Greencastle, Pa./James Buchanan) and junior Nathan
Reider (York, Pa./Dallastown) also captured individual titles in the
5,000 meters and weight throw, respectively.
After tying the meet and Koehler Fieldhouse record while also provisionally
qualifying for the NCAA championships in the preliminaries on Saturday,
James set a new meet and facility record in capturing the 200-meter championship
in 22.12 seconds. His time was 0.41 seconds ahead of Cyrus Wesley who
finished second.
In the mile, Somers posted his second NCAA provisional qualifying time
of the season with a mark of 4:15.97 to lead a 1-2 Shippensburg finish
after junior Richard Hanslovan (Morrisdale, Pa./West Branch), the 2005
winner, edged Iuri Pinto of host East Stroudsburg to take second-place.
On February 3 at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational, Somers ran
a time of 4:14.74.
Other key performers for the Red Raiders on Sunday included senior Kenrick
Marsh (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) who was second in the 800-meter run,
junior Bernie Richards (York Haven, Pa./Northeastern York) who placed
second in the 55-meter hurdle finals after placing fifth in the prelims
and the 4x400-meter relay team that came in second, two seconds faster
than its previous season-best mark.
Sophomore Mark Anderson (Nanty Glo, Pa./Central Cambria) and freshman
David Green (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro) captured third and fourth-place,
respectively, in the shot put. For Anderson, he improved his previous
season-best by more than a foot after totaling a mark of 48-feet, 3-inches
on December 3 at the Bison Opener.
Shippensburg will now return home to prepare for the NCAA Division II
Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 10-11 at the Reggie Lewis
Track and Athletic Center in Boston, Massachussetts.
- Red Raider Track and Field -
