A Shippensburg University track-and-field freshman broke a 37-year-old school record over the weekend. 

Sprinter Leah Graybill broke the outdoor 200-meters record, which was previously held by Kris James, Saturday at Lehigh University’s Happy Easter Races. Graybill smashed the school best with a time of 24.70 and along the way defeated 15 NCAA Division I runners. She also paced the field in the 100-meters, clocking a time of 12.12, a tenth of a second off the school record. 

But Graybill’s record-shattering performance was not the only one of the day for the Raiders at Lehigh. Freshman Drew Dailey cemented his name in the university record books in the 800-meters, marking a time of 1:51.26, inching past previous record-holder Austin Padmore’s time by .02 seconds. Dailey’s time out-paced the second-place runner by 2.5 seconds. 

Freshman Chayce Macknair, who was coming off a noteworthy cross-country campaign — a 2020 All-PSAC First Team nod at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships — and making his outdoor debut, continued his streak of top finishes, notching gold in the 5K at 14:48.33. 

Graduate student Charles Bowman Jr. and freshman Eric Kirk rounded out the men’s team first-place tallies, claiming first in the 400 hurdles and 200-meters with times of 54.32 and 22.24. Junior Shaquille Mitchell, freshman Mo Whittle and sophomore Josh Booth all claimed second in their respective events of the triple jump, long jump and the 400 hurdles. 

For the women, senior Zarria Williams snagged the additional first-place finish at Lehigh in the long jump, leaping 5.64 meters. Behind her, junior Rachel Bruno reached another Top 3 crowning in the 400-meters. Freshmen Lieke Black and Caroline Mastria each tallied fourth place in the 400 hurdles and 400-meters, respectively. 

And the Raiders did not stop their bevy of impressive performances at Lehigh. Since Saturday was a split squad, SU also saw success at the Millersville University Metrics, with the throwers paving the way. 

For the men’s team, the Raiders had at least two representatives in the Top 3 in each throwing event. SU snagged gold in the hammer, discus and shot put with graduate Cam Strohe throwing his way to first place in the hammer and discus, with measurements of 54.61 and 48.56 meters. Junior Jacob Gieringer threw 14.76 meters in shot put, good enough for the top spot. 

Reigning PSAC Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week, sophomore Pat Maloney, built off his award-winning week, reaching second in three events (shot put, discus and hammer). 

Sophomore Madisen Kling and junior Kate Matrisciano led the women’s throwers with second-place tallies in the hammer (43.23 meters) and shot put (12.93 meters). Kling added third in the discus and Matrisciano followed suit, snagging fourth. 

The runners also shined as men’s team freshman Mason Boyd made his debut, navigating the track to the tune of two first-place finishes in the 100- and 400-meters, with paces of 11.34 and 50.39. Freshman Ryan Scicchitano and redshirt-sophomore Nate Kaplon each hit second-place times of 1:59.41 and 15:55.57 in their respective events (the 800-meters and 5K). 

On the women’s side, sophomore Kyra Gerber duplicated her success from the previous weekend, hitting second in the 800-meters at 2:25.16, improving her season best time. 

Freshman Isabelle Gulgert paced the track at 4:59.49 in the 1,500-meters, cracking the Top 3. Redshirt-sophomore Malayna Rowe accounted for the other Top 3 finish, earning third in the 400 hurdles. 

For jumps, freshman Sara Fletcher tied for second at 1.47 meters in the high jump. 

Saturday’s split squad was just the gateway to a hectic week for SU, as the Raiders have three events spanning across four days. They travel to Kutztown University Thursday and Friday for multis, the mid-distance and distance crews take part in the carnival at Messiah University Friday and round out their week at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) Sunday at the IUP Open. 

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