Distance Medley Relay Squad Shatters PSAC Record At New Balance Collegiate Invitational
Feb. 9, 2008
NEW YORK CITY - The Shippensburg women’s indoor track and field team, ranked as high as No. 5 this season in the USTFCCCA poll, recorded their most impressive feat of the season on Saturday by shattering the all-time PSAC record in the distance medley relay (DMR) by eight seconds and winning the event at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational.
The Lady Raider quartet of freshman Abby Huber (Mechanicsburg/Cumberland Valley), sophomore Shannon Hare (Middletown/Middletown), freshman Jamie McCollum (Duncannon/Susquenita) and sophomore Mary Dell (Boiling Springs/Boiling Springs) became the first team in PSAC history to break the 12-minute mark, finishing in 11:59.08. The previous mark of 12:07.08 had been set by Clarion at the same event two years ago.
Huber began the relay by running the 1,200-meter leg in 3:36.6, with Hare completing the 400 in 58.3 seconds. After McCollum finished the 800-meter portion in 2:21.5, Dell anchored the run by completing the 1,600-meter leg in 5:02.6. Shippensburg finished two seconds ahead of Columbia in second place, while Florida International finished third in 12:06.08.
The Lady Raiders improved their provisional qualifying time that had already been recorded 15 days ago when the quartet originally shattered the school record in the DMR at the Bison Open & Multi. Saturday’s effort is the third-fastest in Division II this season, as Seattle Pacific’s effort of 11:40.84 still ranks number-one in the nation. Wisconsin-Parkside has the second-fastest relay of the year with a time of 11:56.20.
The opening pace set by Huber was an early sign that the record was in danger of being broken, as Huber trimmed five seconds off her time that was recorded at Bucknell. Hare improved her leg of the run by two seconds, while McCollum shaved four seconds from her run two weeks ago. Dell closed with the exact same time that she had at Bucknell.
As a team, the Lady Raiders have broken six school records this season, including the DMR and 1,000-meter record twice. In addition, Dell has been a part of four record-breaking performances, including new records in the 800 and 1,000-meters.
Intriguingly, it is the first record broken this season by the Lady Raiders that has not taken place on the Bucknell University indoor track.
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