Men's Track Wins PSAC West Challenge Behind Eight First-Place Finishes
Apr. 8, 2006
CALIFORNIA, Pa. - The Shippensburg University men's track and field team took first place in the PSAC West Challenge Saturday behind six individual first-place finishes and 25 individual top-five finishes in their respective events. The Red Raiders finished with a total of 230 points, 68.5 points ahead of second-place Slippery Rock University.
It is the third first-place finish as a team for the Red Raiders this season and the first since Shippensburg won the PSAC Indoor Championships on February 26 at East Stroudsburg.
The team victory also marks the second PSAC Challenge won by the men's track and field team this season, as the Red Raiders earned their third first place team finish at the PSAC East Challenge on February 11 at Kutztown.
Sophomore Mark Anderson (Nanty Glo, Pa./Central Cambria) continued his banner season by earning three first-place finishes. Anderson followed two top-eight finishes at the Terrapin Invitational last week with a shot put of 15.62 meters, a discus throw of 45.93 meters, and a hammer throw of 48.80 meters, all first place finishes.
Anderson's hammer throw bested his own conference-best mark of 48.71 meters set at the Fred Hardy Invitational, while his discus throw also stands as the best performance in the conference this season. Today's throw surpassed Jeremy Burger's throw of 44.17 meters at the Muhlenberg Invitational last weekend for East Stroudsburg.
Senior John Somers (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) and junior Allen Hanslovan (Morrisdale, Pa./West Branch) earned first-place finishes in the 1,500 meter run and 5,000 meter runs respectively. Somers took the 1,500 meter run with a time of 4:00.90, while Hanslovan earned top-honors in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 15:16.90. Junior Stephen LoBianco (Dover, Pa./Eastern York) took fifth in the 5,000 meter run with a finish of 16:39.60.
Junior Bernie Richards (York Haven, Pa./Northeastern York) continued strong performances in hurdles with a first and second place finish. Richards took first-place in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 53.40 seconds, his best time to date this season.
Richards took second in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.70 seconds, another season-best event time, losing by just one-tenth of a second to Slippery Rock's Shayne Cooper in first.
Both of Shippensburg's relay teams earned first-place finishes at the PSAC West Challenge. The Red Raiders squeaked out a victory over Slippery Rock in the 100-meter relay, winning by just three-tenths of a second with a time of 42.1 seconds. The first-place finish in the 400-meter relay was a bit more comfortable, winning by more tha two seconds over The Rock with a time of 3:20.20.
Sophomore Jamal James (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) earned a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash for the second consecutive week with a time of 10.5 seconds, falling one-tenth of a second short of IUP's Jermaine Clayton. Clayton's and James' finishes are the two-fastest times in the PSAC this season, as the duo improved upon their previous conference-best times earned at the Wake Forest Open and Terrapin Invitational respectively.
The hammer throw was dominated by Shippensburg, as the Red Raiders swept the top-five places in the event. Finishing behind Anderson were freshman Shaun Minnich (Churchville, Pa./Council Rock South), junior Nate Reider (York, Pa./Dallastown), senior Matt Rudderow (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) and freshman David Green (Waynesboro, Pa./South Western).
Green also finished second in the shot put behind Anderson with a throw of 13.89 meters and third in the discus throw with a toss of 40.76 meters. Reider finished fourth in the javelin throw with a 53.45 meters, while sophomore Jarrod Shull (Landisburg, Pa./ West Perry) took second with a throw of 55.65 meters.
The men’s and women’s track and field teams will be in action on Friday, April 14 for a day of competition at the Bison Outdoor Classic on the campus of Bucknell University. The meet is scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m.
- Red Raider Track and Field -
