Women Total Four First-Place Finishes, Capture PSAC East Championship
Feb. 11, 2006
KUTZTOWN, Pa. - The Shippensburg University men’s and women’s
track and field teams each captured their first team championships of the
season on Saturday as both totaled 192.50 points in winning the Pennsylvania
State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Championship held at Kutztown University.
Both the Lady Raiders and Red Raiders won in convincing fashion as the men
held a 44.5-point margin over second-place Kutztown University while the
women won with a margin of 31 points, also over Kutztown.
The women had four athletes finish in first-place led by senior Flo Yerokun
(Perkiomenville, Pa./Spring-Ford) who finished the 55-meter dash in a time
of 7.37 seconds, just ahead of freshman teammate Siobhan Richards
(York Haven, Pa./York Haven) who came in second with a time of 7.43 seconds.
Freshman Kristen McGoldrick (Boothwyn, Pa./Garnet Valley) took home top honors
in the 800-meter run with a time 2:24.12, nearly three seconds faster than
her team-best time set at the Bison Opener back on December 3.
In the women’s high jump, junior Monica Speca (Mechanicsburg,
Pa./Trinity) finished first with a leap of 5-feet, 3-inches, tying her team-best mark
set at the Bison Opener. Freshman Christine Kihm (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) won her third pole vault title this year after finishing first with a mark
of 10-feet, 6-inches.
Other notable finishers for the women on Saturday included freshman Ashleigh
Helfrick (Greencastle, Pa./James Buchanan) who was second in the 500-meter
dash, junior Christine Walker (Corapolis, Pa./Upper Moreland) who placed
second in the 5,000-meter run, senior Anna Mack (Olyphant, Pa./Lakeland) who earned second in the 55-meter hurdles and senior Sonia
Spriggs (Avondale, Pa./Avondale) who was second in the shot put.
On the men’s side, Shippensburg took home the top four finishes in
the mile run with senior John Somers (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) taking
home first-place in a time of 4:27.10. Just last week, Somers, the PSAC Men’s
Track Athlete of the Week, posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time of
4:14.74 in the mile at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational.
Junior Greg Weiss (Newfoundland, N.J./West Milford) was second, followed
by senior Dan Helfrick (Greencastle, Pa./James Buchanan) in third and junior
Stephen Lobianco (Dover, Pa./Northeastern York) in fourth.
Sophomore Jamal James (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) was first in the
200-meter dash with a time of 22.48 seconds, improving upon his PSAC-leading
time by 0.04 seconds after finishing third in the 55-meter dash. Senior Kenrick
Marsh (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) posted a conference qualifying time of
1:59.28 in the 800-meter run before freshman Dillon Gracey (Mercersburg,
Pa./James Buchanan) place first in the 5,000-meter run.
Junior Bernie Richards (York Haven, Pa./Northeastern York) won the 55-meter
hurdles in 7.97 seconds and sophomore Mark Anderson (Nanty Glo, Pa./Central
Cambria) took home top honors in the weight throw with a toss of 14.74 meters.
Freshman Jonathan Hughes (Malvern, Pa./Great
Valley) qualified for the PSAC
Championships with a second-place finish in the 3,000 meters with a time
of 8:55.88 while sophomore Justin Ackerman (Broomal, Pa./Marple
Newton) placed
second in the weight throw behind Anderson, also qualifying for the conference
meet with a mark of 14.09 meters.
Both teams return to action next Friday, February 17 at the Orange and Maroon Classic hosted by Susquehanna University.
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Lady Raider Track and Field -
