Shippensburg University sent four athletes to Colorado State University Pueblo to compete at the 2023 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships. All four competitors earned All-American honors in their respective events. 

Sara McKean was the first Raider to step into action on Thursday, May 25 in the long jump event. McKean jumped 19 feet, 11 inches (6.07 meters) on her second attempt, which put her in eighth place going into finals. As she could not improve her mark in her last three attempts, she got pushed back a place and finished ninth, which earned her second-team All-American honors.

It was McKean’s NCAA Outdoor Championship debut and only her second appearance at NCAA Championships. She also competed at this year’s NCAA Indoor Championships, where she finished in 18th place. McKean finishes her 2023 season as an indoor and outdoor Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Champion in the long jump, and she surpassed the 20-foot mark on multiple occasions, which makes her only the third woman in school history to do so. McKean battled injuries multiple times throughout her career but had a big comeback with her 2023 campaign.

Competing next was Josh Herbster in the hammer throw. With his first throw, Herbster improved his personal best to 204 feet, 2 inches (62.23 meters), which also tied Caleb Bartlett’s school record set in 2017. His top mark earned him seventh place and All-America First Team honors, where he joins Bartlett as the only first team All-Americans in the hammer throw in school history.

Herbster made his NCAA Championship debut with this meet. He won his third PSAC title in the hammer throw this season and wrapped up a successful season. Herbster recently also got named to the PSAC Spring Top 10 list, where you must maintain a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of 3.50 or higher and be a starter or key reserve with legitimate athletic credentials to be a candidate.

Pat Maloney competed in the discus throw on May 26 and earned second-team All-American honors with his ninth-place finish. In his third throw of preliminaries, he achieved his top mark of the day, 173 feet, 11 inches (53.00 meters), which put him in fifth place going into finals. Going into the last throw of finals, he was sitting in seventh place, but two other throwers passed him on their last attempt and pushed him back to ninth place.

Maloney made his first appearance at the NCAA Championships that weekend. In his last collegiate meet, the senior finished ninth with second-team All-American honors. Maloney ends his collegiate career as a multiple-time PSAC champion and All-PSAC performer, and his personal best in the discus throw, 179 feet, 11 inches (54.83 meters), ranks him second in school history.    

Leah Graybill stepped on the track to compete twice, once on May 26 to compete in the 200-meter prelims and again on May 27 to compete in the 200-meter finals. In the prelims, Graybill finished her race in 23.46 seconds, which is a new school record and qualified her for finals as the No. 8 seed. In the final, Graybill finished in 23.63 seconds, the second-fastest time of her career, and earned second-team All-American honors with her ninth place.

Graybill made her NCAA Outdoor Championship debut, after already competing at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2022 and 2023. In 2023, she finished sixth with first team All-American honors in the 200 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She finishes her 2023 outdoor season as All-PSAC performer in the 100 meters and the 200 meters and as PSAC champion in the 4x100-meter relay and the 4x400-meter relay.

The NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships concluded the season for both the men’s and women’s track-and-field teams. In the fall of 2023, the cross-country team will have its season, before the indoor track-and-field season starts in the winter.

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