The 2007-08 season for the Shippensburg University men's track and field team will be decided by a mix of savvy veterans and talented newcomers.

Shippensburg's men have combined for 16 outdoor and two indoor PSAC Championships since 1982. After finishing with runner-up performances at both the PSAC indoor and outdoor championships to rival Lock Haven last year, this new team will be competitive once again for a PSAC crown.

"There will be three major factors to our success this season," said head coach Dave Osanitsch. "We must fight the law of attrition to injuries, develop our talented freshman class and have our upperclassman step up their performances and lead."

Despite losing some key PSAC performers to graduation, the cupboard is hardly bare for this perennial powerhouse.

Sprints/Hurdles

The veteran sprint squad will be led by senior Jamal James. In his first three seasons, James has completely re-written Shippensburg’s record books in the sprint events. A multiple PSAC champion, he achieved national recognition in 2007 when he qualified for the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in the 200-meter dash. He will look to cap off his wonderful career with his first All-America honor.

Senior Alex Terrell will also look to make the most out of his last campaign for the Red Raiders after having been a multiple conference placewinner in the 100 and 200-meter events. His leadership qualities will be of paramount importance as well. Senior Eric Baker has been a top performer for Shippensburg the last two seasons in the 400-meter dash and relays. His senior season should be his finest after completing a fantastic preseason conditioning program.

Junior Joe Wagner will make a huge impact on the PSAC this season. After transferring to Shippensburg from Robert Morris University last year, he battled a nagging hamstring injury which limited his abilities. However, Wagner was still able to be a conference placewinner in the 400 at both the indoor and outdoor championships. With a new training program in place, Wagner should be one to watch this upcoming season.

Shippensburg's charasmatic leader, junior James Wilson, looks to build upon his great sprinting career with more All-PSAC accolades while taking to the next level at nationals.

Four newcomers in freshmen Brad Bechtel, Jimmy Chadwick, Vincent DiMaio and Todd Phillips along with rejuvenated junior Sean Cohick, will add plenty of depth to the sprint corps stable.

With the graduation of Bernie Richards, a national qualifier in both the 110-meter high hurdles and 400-meter intermediate hurdles, one might think this would be an area of weakness for Shippensburg. But, with one of the best hurdle recruiting classes in school history, this area should be a great strength for the red Raiders.

Junior Mike Murphy had a breakthrough sophomore season and became a conference placewinner in the 400IH while sophomore Ryan Drzeweicki battled injuries his entire freshman campaign, but is extremely talented and will look to be a major contributor this season.

In the off-season, Shippensburg acquired two of the finest high school hurdlers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in freshmen Tyler Real and Mike Cuppari. Both should turn some heads in the hurdle events.

Jumps/Multis

After several years of development, the jumps/multis team is ready to make a big impact for the Red Raiders. Senior Maurice Barbour earned All-PSAC honors in the triple jump last year and looks for even bigger things this upcoming year. Junior Sean Cohick had a breakthrough season a year ago in the long jump where he also earned All-PSAC honors. He has never looked better and should be a real threat to break the 24' 0" mark.

Sophomore Mike Edwards battled a nagging knee injury his freshman year, but now looks healthy and ready to make a impact for the team in the long jump. Sophomore Allan Lehman had career bests in both the long jump and triple jump as a freshman and will look to be a conference placewinner. Sophomore Steve Gualberti has made tremendous strides in his training and should also not be overlooked in the jumps.

Red-shirt freshman Jesse Brown and freshman Jimmy Chadwick will look to make names for themselves in the horizontal jumps.

Red-shirt freshman Leander Toney brings the best chances for Shippensburg in the high jump. The 2006 PIAA champion, he should make an immediate impact. Sophomore Lucas Hershey will also add depth.

The pole vault squad will have many new faces this upcoming season. Freshmen Andrew Campolongo, James Osmolenski and Matthew Ciccocioppo all bring great high school vault resumes and will look to find their place among the PSAC ranks.

Sophomore and PSAC placewinner Donnie Graybill will lead the decathlon corp. He had a solid freshman season in the multis and after dedicating himself this summer to training, should contend for one of the top spots on the podium. Senior Jim Dubinski returns for his senior campaign and looks to build upon his experiences in the multi events.

Freshmen Everett Chapman, Mark Lebo, Ryan Newswanger and sophomore Tyler Eberly will all be training for the multi events as well and should develop quickly.

Mid-Distance/Distance

With the loss of All-American Allen Hanslovan to graduation, this unit must quickly develop and keep Shippensburg balanced. Ready to answer the challenge will be sophomore Josh Neyhart. After a impressive freshman campaign, he will look to become one of the premier milers in the PSAC. After coming off another strong cross-country season in which he led all Red Raider finishers at both the PSAC and East Region championships, junior Stephen Thompson will be looked upon to be a major points contributor in the distance events.

Sophomore Jeremy Brady also had a solid cross country season and looks to build upon his conference placewinning performance last year at the outdoor championships. Sophomore Dillon Gracey should be a factor in the 5K for Shippensburg.

A cavalcade of talent should provide great depth as well for the team. They are freshmen Brandon Boyer, Matt Gelety, Eric Haidinger, Ethan Rissell, Jordan Shick, Jake Sitler, Sean Stetler, R.C. Zinn and Bryan Beegle, red-shirt freshman Zach Epple and juniors Phil Diven and Mike Fulton. Beegle was Shippensburg's top distance recruit and was a major contributor to the cross country team’s success this past season, finishing as Shippensburg's top finisher in six out of eight races. He will look to be a major contributor for the track team as well.

The mid-distance squad will be led by sophomores Ryan Boyer and Rob Kuliczkowski and freshman Corey Creek. Newcomers will be freshmen Sam Storino and Channon Riggs. This young and talented group must emerge and solidify the 800-meter run.

Throws

With any good building, you must have a strong foundation. The foundation for the men's track team over the last decade has been the throwing events. With the retirement of legendary throws coach Kurt Dunkel, along with the losses of NCAA javelin champion Nate Reider, multiple PSAC champion Mark Anderson and All-PSAC thrower Dave Green, you would think the next group of throwers would take years to rebuild.

Not so.

Dunkel’s top coaching pupil, Kim Sellers, will take over the reigns of this storied program and will benefit from the assistace of Reider, a three-time All-American and 2007 national champion.

Looking to continue the tradition of excellence and lead the young throws squad will be junior Shaun Minnich who has earned multiple All-PSAC honors in the shot put. Freshman Steve D’Arcy was one of the finest shot putters in New Jersey as a high school senior and will look to make a immediate impact. Freshman Tappah Dinnall has also developed quickly with the 16-pound shot put and should provide immediate support.

Freshmen Andrew Farnsworth, Chad Miller and Daniel Linderman will be looked upon to hit the learning curve quickly to help fill the aforementioned voids in the throwing ranks.

The javelin got a great boost with freshman Josh Hostetler, a transfer from Lycoming College. He was a PIAA state champion in the javelin and was one of the best high school javelin throwers in the nation.

Senior Jarrod Shull returns for his final campaign. Shull has been a solid performer over his career for the Red Raiders and will look to get to the next level and qualify for the national championships while sophomore Christian D’Annibale was a conference qualifier in his first season and will look to achieve a national mark this season.

Newcomers will be freshmen Glenn Bell, Benjamin Frick and Patrick Stump.