The Shippensburg University men's and women's indoor track & field teams are combining to send 13 student-athletes to compete at the 2013 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships to be held March 7-9 at the CrossPlex Complex in Birmingham, Ala.

Shippensburg's 13 competitors (seven men, six women) will match its largest national championships contingent in history, previously achieved in 2011. SU has sent 10 or more student-athletes to three consecutive NCAA indoor championship meets, including 11 last season.

The PSAC will send a total of 26 student-athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships this season – with exactly half of that contingent being Raiders.

MEN

Three student-athletes will compete individually while the distance medley relay will be gunning for its second national title in three years.

Senior Herman Kirkland is the No. 8 seed in the long jump, marking his third consecutive NCAA Indoor Championships appearance in the event. Kirkland is a two-time All-American, having placed eighth last season and seventh as a rookie in 2011. His season PR of 24 feet, 2 ¼ inches was first achieved at Penn State in January and then matched this past weekend at the PSAC Championships, where he earned his second league crown with the last jump of the competition.

Sophomore Steve Waithe will make his NCAA Indoor Championships debut as the No. 5 seed in the triple jump. Waithe has four triple jumps this season of 50 feet or longer, including a season PR of 50 feet, 5 ½ inches achieved at both The Armory and Princeton. He won the PSAC Championship this past weekend after leaping 50 feet, 0 ½ inches for his second consecutive league crown.

Senior Matt Gillette will run the 3K on Saturday as the No. 6 seed. Gillette broke the 30-year-old conference record held by his coach, Steve Spence '85, when he ran 8:09.33 earlier this month at The Armory.

Gillette will also double as the anchor for the distance medley relay squad that is the No. 5 seed entering the championships. SU has earned All-America honors in back-to-back seasons, placing third last year and winning the national championship in 2011.

The expected lineup is sophomore Tom Kehl on the opening 1,200-meter leg, followed by sophomore Andrew Kujawski in the 400, senior Joel Flott in the 800 and Gillette anchoring the 1,600-meter leg.

Junior Dan Dreeman will be the alternate for the DMR. Dreeman ran the opening 1,200-meter leg on the relay that qualified for nationals back in January at Bucknell (9:58.60).

WOMEN

Two student-athletes will compete individually – senior Erin Flick in the high jump and senior Katie Spratford in both the 3K and 5K. Spratford also qualified with the DMR but is expected to forgo her anchor leg on the relay to focus on both distance events.

Flick enters the NCAA Indoor Championships as the No. 14 seed, having cleared 5 feet, 7 inches this season. Among those she will face in competition are East Stroudsburg's Christina O'Connor and Slippery Rock's Ashley West.

Spratford is the top seed in the 5K – her time of 16:34.71 in December at Bucknell has stood as Division II's benchmark for the entire season. She is a reigning All-American in the event after her eighth-place finish last season. Spratford is also the No. 8 seed in the 3K, having run 9:40.02 at The Armory.

SU is currently the No. 3 seed in the DMR after its 11:49.89 effort at Susquehanna less than two weeks ago. The probable lineup is sophomore Heather Weiss to lead off on the 1,200-meter leg, followed by junior Monique Clemons in the 400, freshman Megan Lundy in the 800 and junior Stephanie Pryor on the 1,600-meter anchor leg.

At Susquehanna, Pryor led off, followed by Lundy, Weiss and Spratford.  Clemons would be a new addition to the relay. She placed third in the 400 this past weekend at the PSAC Championships with a significant PR after running the distance for just the second time in her career at the event.

SPECIAL MENTION

Two Raiders were denied entry into the national championships field by just one position and deserve commendation for their exception efforts during the indoor season.

On the women's side, senior Caitlin Stuetz twice ran PRs in the 60-meter hurdles at the PSAC Championships and broke her own school record three times this season. On Sunday, she ran her fastest time yet – 8.61 seconds.

Emporia State's Nikki Wetstein also ran 8.61 seconds this season, but was granted access to compete based on a tiebreaker of having her second and third-fastest runs of the season be faster than Stuetz. Eighteen runners were accepted into the 60-meter hurdles field, while 20 runners were accepted into the 60-meter dash.

On the men's side, junior Matt Kujawski ran a time of 21.99 seconds on the track at Bucknell, which converted to the national championships track is 21.61 seconds. Kujawski, the PSAC champion in the 200 meters, came within one-hundredth of a second of reaching the national field. The 20th and final entry – Quinntyn Qualls of Indianapolis – ran 21.60 this season.