NEW KINGSTOWN, Pa. - Senior Shane Wolter became the first individual PSAC champion for the Shippensburg University men's swimming team since Mike Owen in 2007 as the Red Raiders finished in third place at the 2010 PSAC Swimming Championships held at Cumberland Valley High School.

“The men had a good swim and posted numerous quality performances; we just couldn't catch up to Clarion,” said SU head coach Erin Goodhart. “We were very strong, and I think after this performance we have shown we are hungry to compete for second place for the next several years to come.”

Wolter was unable to achieve an automatic qualifying time in the 1,650-yard freestyle but distanced the rest of the field by six seconds with a time of 16:06.96. Wolter earned all-conference honors in the mile for the second consecutive year after a second-place turn in 2009 and has now completed five All-PSAC swims in his career.

The mile proved to be a huge point scorer for the Red Raiders, as senior Drew Hagerich took third in 16:15.60, an improvement of three seconds from his seed, and sophomore Joe Lahovski placed seventh in 16:40.64.

Two Red Raiders reached the championship finals of the 200-yard butterfly. Freshman Eric Naylor earned fifth place with a time of 1:55.83, while senior Evan Wentzel clocked in at 1:57.48.

In the 200-yard backstroke, sophomore Joe Keefe won the consolation final with a time of 1:58.11. Freshman Stew Conard also got points in the consolation final with a time of 2:01.99.

Junior Tim Smullen won the consolation final of the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 47.32 seconds, while senior Nate Ryan earned points by tapping the wall in 47.87 seconds.

The 200-yard breaststroke featured freshman Sean Minford, who placed eighth with a time of 2:11.21 in the championships finals. Junior Derek Yeager reached the consolation finals and placed 11th in 2:11.40 while sophomore Evan Manning was one spot behind with a time of 2:12.19.

As always, the tournament concluded with an exciting 400-yard freestyle relay. Smullen, Wolter, Naylor and Ryan fought hard for third place with a time of 3:09.24.

The event completes the stellar careers of the Raider senior class that includes Wolter, Ryan, Hagerich and Wentzel.

“The seniors really stepped up at this meet and they showed heart,” Goodhart said. “They gave this young team an idea of what it takes to be one of the top three teams in the conference. Shane [Wolter] and Drew [Hagerich] finishing first and third in the mile showed that we could go out and fight. Their leadership was huge.”