Three seconds.
That is how long the competition went stride for stride with Shippensburg University track-and-field freshman Leah Graybill before she jetted out in the remaining nine ticks to claim first in the women’s 100-meters, capturing yet another school record at the SU Midweek Invitational at Seth Grove Stadium Wednesday.
The new school feat is Graybill’s third time breaking a record this season (two school and one meet), serving as the cornerstone to another historic performance on the track. Outside of her record-setting 12.01 in the 100-meters, Graybill boasted a first-place tally in the 400-meters (57.43 seconds) and contributed to the Raiders’ second-place finish in the 4x4 relay.
However, Graybill’s momentous day was just the peak to SU’s all-around performance on the outdoor circuit — the men’s and women’s teams combined for 26 victories. The men furnished 15 wins and the women 11.
Junior Rachel Bruno carried the torch, finishing first in the 200-meters after merely losing to Graybill in the 100-meters. Sophomore Kyra Gerber duplicated her teammates’ success, seeing her first gold run this season in the 800-meters.
The hurdles also showed to be no issue for SU as freshmen Megan Kendall and Lieke Black crossed the finish line first in the 100 and 400 hurdles at 15.53 and 1:05.88. Freshman Brooke Emery and sophomore Carson Pennings tacked on second and third in the 100 hurdles, redshirt-sophomore Malayna Rowe taking bronze in the 400 hurdles.
On the men’s side, graduate Charles Bowman Jr. flashed his usual finishes of first in the 110 and 400 hurdles, pacing 14.80 and 53.70. Bowman also keyed as the last 400-runner in the 4x400 relay, taking home gold as well.
Freshman Eric Kirk extended his streak of impressive outdoor runs in his debut campaign, clocking the best times in the 100 and 200-meters. Behind Kirk, junior Michael Lingard sprinted to second, .21 off Kirk’s pace. Lingard also marshaled the Raiders to first in the 4x100 relay.
For the mid-distance and distance crew, freshmen Drew Dailey and Chayce Macknair rattled off another mentionable navigation of the track in the 800 and 1,500-meters. Both would claim first, hitting times of 1:51.61 and 3:55.57.
In the infield, the SU jumpers refused to miss out on the bevy of success. For the women, junior Ariel Jones used her basketball vertical to reach 1.65 meters in the high jump, good enough for the top spot. Senior Zarria Williams followed suit in the long jump, measuring 5.72 meters.
The men’s team also flustered the opposition on its way to gold in all four respective events. Freshman Robert Lissner used his win at Kutztown University’s Mondschein Multis to spring to 4.39 meters in the pole vault.
Freshman Kenny Rhyne and sophomore Jordan Winslow tied atop the high jump, each reaching 2.00 meters. Sophomore Nate Reed and junior Shaquille Mitchell rounded out the first-place achievements in the long jump (7.11 meters) and triple jump (14.45 meters).
On the outskirts of Fairchild Field, the Raider throwers added to the already mounting pile of top markings.
Sophomore Pat Maloney notched an NCAA provisional throw for the second week in a row in discus. Maloney’s throw recorded at 52.49 meters.
Sophomore Josh Herbster — who earned Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Outdoor Field Athlete Week honors, thanks to a booming throw of 56.08 meters in hammer — came roughly two meters shy of his NCAA provisional qualifier, tossing for 54.22 meters this time around. Additionally, junior Jacob Gieringer and redshirt-junior Alec Stimson placed first in shot put and javelin, respectively. Their throws tagged at 14.31 meters and 52.96 meters.
The women’s squad banded together three more first-place tallies in shot put, discus and javelin. Junior Kate Matrisciano hurled a 13.65-meter throw in shot put, sophomore Madisen Kling unleashed a season-best 42.03 meters in discus and freshman Maddie Sieg — claiming her first gold title — slung a 35.55-meter throw in javelin. Kling would also declare fourth in hammer.
The Raiders return to Seth Grove Stadium Saturday for their next meet, the Paul Kaiser Classic. Events at the track are set to begin at 8:30 a.m.
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