Shippensburg University Athletics

Mary Dell Fuller set the current standard for women’s track & field and cross country at Shippensburg University. She finished her career as a nine-time NCAA All-American, a seven-time PSAC Champion, and an NCAA national champion who contributed four all-time conference records during her tenure.
 
Recruited as a sprinter, Fuller showed remarkable versatility in her career and exceled with every assignment handed her way. In the 2008 indoor season as a sophomore, Fuller anchored the first distance medley relay in SU and PSAC history to break the 12-minute mark. It resulted in a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships, and began an incredible streak of nine consecutive seasons of competition in which she earned NCAA All-America honors, spanning all the way through her final competitive season in 2010 as a graduate cross country runner.
 
In cross country, Fuller finished 33rd as a sophomore at the NCAA Championships despite joining the team midway through the season. She finished 21st in 2009 and 25th in 2010, making her one of three women in school history to finish as a three-time All-American in cross country along with Neely Spence Gracey and Katie Spratford. She finished as a four-time All-PSAC cross country runner (17th in 2007, 11th in 2008, 3rd in 2009, 3rd in 2010) and a three-time All-Atlantic Region cross country runner (10th in 2008, 3rd in 2009, 3rd in 2010).
 
In indoor track & field, Fuller contributed to three All-America finishes with the distance medley relay, including a 2009 national championship as the lead leg with a conference-record and NCAA meet-record time of 11:24.54. The PSAC record remains to this day. Shippensburg finished in second place in the DMR in 2010. At the conference level, Dell won the 800 meters as a junior in 2009 and contributed to four PSAC championships in relays, including an all-time PSAC record in the 4x800-meter relay that remains to this day.
 
In outdoor track & field, Fuller earned All-America honors in three different events – placing eighth with the 4x400-meter relay in 2008, sixth in the 1,500 meters in 2009, and second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2010. Her second-place steeplechase time of 10:20.37 shattered the all-time PSAC record and lasted for eight years. At the conference level, Fuller won PSAC titles in the 1,500 meters and steeplechase as a senior and contributed to the all-time PSAC record in the 4x800-meter relay that remains to this day.
 
Overall, Fuller competed 29 times at the PSAC Track & Field Championships spanning indoor and outdoor competition – and scored at least one point all 29 times. Perhaps more incredibly, of her 29 PSAC place-winning performances, she is a 24-time All-PSAC (Top 3) finisher. She finished first, second or third in 21 of her 22 PSAC individual races or relays spanning her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. During her career, she set seven school records.
 
From a team perspective, Shippensburg flourished in the three sports. At the 2008 indoor championships, Dell was named the PSAC Championships Co-MVP after running third in the 800 meters, second in the mile, second with the DMR and contributing to conference titles on the 4x400-meter and 4x800-meter relays – an incredible 42 points from five events. SU tied Slippery Rock for the PSAC championship that year, marking the first indoor women’s conference title in school history. The Raiders began a streak of five consecutive PSAC and NCAA Atlantic Region Championships in 2008 and became the first school in PSAC history to win a Women’s Triple Crown (conference titles in XC, ITF, OTF) in 2009-10. That marked the first of four straight PSAC Women’s Triple Crowns and nine consecutive PSAC women’s outdoor championships.
 
Fuller credits the guidance and confidence of her coaches (Dave Osanitsch, Steve Spence and Doug Knol) and the support of her parents David and Marianne for her positive experience as a Raider. She was active outside competition as a four-year member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), a member of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), a volunteer coach for the local Special Olympics swim club as a junior, and a member of the SU woodwinds ensemble as a sophomore.
 
Fuller was an exceptional student. As a senior track & field athlete in 2009-10, she was named the PSAC Pete Nevins Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She was recognized twice as an Academic All-America First Team selection, and received four PSAC Top 10 awards -- an honor that recognizes athletic performance and academic success. Following her junior year, she was named Shippensburg University’s 2008-09 Women’s Student-Athlete of the Year.
 
Fuller graduated in 2010 with a degree in biology, her teaching certification, and a 3.97 cumulative GPA as a member of the Wood Honors College. She became just the fifth individual in school history to be awarded a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate scholarship, and used that opportunity to complete her final season of eligibility in cross country in the fall of 2010 – a year in which Shippensburg finished fourth at the NCAA National Championships. She finished her SU graduate degree in curriculum and instruction in 2015.  
 
After graduation, Fuller worked eight years as a middle school science teacher at Lower Dauphin Middle School while also working as a cross country and track & field coach. She married Kevin Fuller in 2017, and the couple are the proud parents of a baby boy, David, born in 2019. The family also has a dog, Simon.