Women's Accepted List

Men's Accepted List

SAN ANGELO, Texas - The Shippensburg University men's and women's outdoor track and field programs, under the guidance of head coach Dave Osanitsch '96, will send 12 athletes to the Division II Outdoor National Championships to be held Thursday, May 21 through Saturday, May 23 at the Legrand Sports Complex on the campus of Angelo State University.

It is the second consecutive year that Shippensburg will send its largest contingent in school history to the national championships. The team has qualified 10 performances for this year's meet, bringing the school's two-year total to 18. Last year, the school sent nine athletes to compete in a total of eight qualified performances.

Seven athletes are making a return trip to the national championships after making their postseason debuts last season. Among the group is sophomore Erica Hess, a two-time PSAC Champion in the 400-meters who is currently ranked fifth in the nation after her performance of 55.35 seconds set on Saturday at the conference meet.

After last year becoming the first PSAC school in history to earn All-American status in a relay, this season's 1,600-meter squad of Hess, junior Shannon Hare, freshman Katie Craven and sophomore Laura Henzy will try to repeat the feat after earning the ninth seed with a time of 3:47.23. Craven is the lone new entry among the relay group.

Junior Mary Dell, who competed on last year's 1,600-meter All-American relay, is ranked ninth for the 1,500-meter run with a qualifying performance of 4:30.58. Sophomore teammate Abby Huber is ranked eighth (4:30.23) and will run alongside Dell after the duo ran in the 800 at last year's national meet.

Senior Michelle Morcom, who finished third at this year's conference meet in the 100-meter hurdles, will try to achieve an All-American performance after being seeded 17th with a time of 14.24 seconds. Her performance on Saturday from Millersville was a season-best that earned her the spot in the national meet.

A pair of freshmen will be making their national outdoor debuts in field events. Freshman Neely Spence will compete for the title in the 5,000-meters after qualifying third in Division II with a time of 16:38.81. Freshman Lauren Redington will vie for a strong showing in the long jump after being seeded 16th.

On the men's side, freshman Andrew Batula will look to improve his national rank of 12th overall after a conference championship performance of 2.10 meters last Saturday from Millersville. It is the second consecutive year that Shippensburg has qualified a high jumper at the outdoor national meet.

Additionally, this will be the second consecutive year in which sophomores Josh Hostetler and Glenn Bell will compete for a national championship in the javelin. Both men recorded outstanding provisional efforts on April 4 at the PSAC East Challenge and will look to place higher than their respective seeds (seventh and eighth).

For information on the 2009 Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, including a complete list of entrants along with schedules, participant manuals and travel and ticket information, please visit the tournament Web site.


Thursday
6:40 p.m.    Women's 1,500 Meter Qualifier (Dell, Huber)
7:10 p.m.    Women's 400 Meter Qualifier (Hess)
8 p.m.         Women's Long Jump Finals (Redington)

Friday
6:10 p.m.    Men's High Jump Finals (Batula)
8:20 p.m.    Women's 100 Meter Hurdles Qualifier (Morcom)
9:15 p.m.    Women's 5,000 Meter Qualifier (Spence)
10:25 p.m.    Women's 4x400 Meter Relay Qualifier (Hess, Hare, Craven, Henzy)

Saturday
Noon        Men's Javelin Finals (Hostetler, Bell)
7:05 p.m.    Women's 1,500 Meter Finals (Dell, Huber)
7:25 p.m.    Women's 100 Meter Hurdles Finals (Morcom)
7:45 p.m.    Women's 400 Meter Finals (Hess)
9:43 p.m.    Women's 5,000 Meter Finals (Spence)
10 p.m.      Women's 4x400 Meter Relay Finals (Hess, Hare, Craven, Henzy)