Shippensburg University´s track and field team impressed at its first home meet of the season, the Midweek Invitational, with several event wins and strong performances in Seth Grove Stadium on Wednesday.

Among the standout performers was Sara McKean with her long jump over 20 feet, 0 ¼ inches, which is a new personal record (PR) and puts her on the Division II national leaderboard. McKean also got a new PR of 12.38 seconds in the 100-meter dash to qualify for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) championships.

Sasha Lee also had a standout day with podium finishes in three events. Lee won the 100-meter hurdles in a new PR of 14.53 seconds and placed second in the triple jump with a distance of 37 feet, 11 ½ inches. Lee placed third in the long jump with a new PR of 18 feet, 10 ¾ inches. Lee is now ranked first in the PSAC for triple jump and second for the hurdles and the long jump, where she sits behind her teammate McKean.

The men horizontal jumpers also had a good day at their home meet. Mo Whittle placed second in the long jump with a huge personal best of 24 feet, 2 ½ inches. This is a provisional national qualifier and puts him in third on the PSAC ranking. Teagan Weaver also had a big PR in the long jump with a distance of 23 feet, 2 ¾ inches, that placed him third in the meet.

Noteworthy was also the performance of the throwers on Wednesday. Pat Maloney won the shot put and the discus throw, and Josh Herbster won the hammer throw. 

Maloney barely missed his PR in the shot put by 2 inches with a big toss of 56 feet, 5 ¼ inches. With the discus, he threw 163 feet and then he took second in the hammer throw with 182 feet, 11 inches. 

Herbster won the hammer throw with another throw over 200 feet, throwing 200 feet, 2 inches. He is still ranked eighth on the Division II leaderboard. Herbster also achieved a new PR of 50 feet, 6 ¾ inches in the shot put, which placed him fourth in the meet.

The women throwers recorded several new PRs and PSAC qualifiers. Ashley Adams hit the league standard in the hammer throw with a distance of 147 feet, 1 inch, and Lauren Bellows hit the PSAC qualifier in the discus with a throw of 123 feet, 9 inches. Makayla Decker placed third in the discus with 131 feet, 3 inches, which moves her into the top five in the PSAC.

In the sprints, both the men and women placed 1-2-3-4 in the 100-meter dash. Leah Graybill led the women with a new meet record of 11.87 seconds, and EJ Dorwil led the men with a new PR of 10.79 seconds. Aliyah Serrano, McKean and Kayla Dalhouse placed 2-3-4 on the women´s side, and on the men´s side Eric Kirk, Whittle and Weaver completed the sweep.

Caroline Mastria won the 400 in her first outdoor meet of the season in 57.55 seconds, which ranks her third in the PSAC.

The Raiders will have one more home meet on Saturday, the 18th Paul Kaiser Classic. Throwing events are set to start at 9 a.m., running events at 9:15 a.m. and jumping events at 11 a.m.

Shippensburg´s track and field team will conclude their season at the PSAC Championships hosted by Slippery Rock May 11 through May 13, where the men seek to continue their streak of 12 PSAC Championships and the women seek to win the championship to continue their success from the indoor season.

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