SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Freshman Herman Kirkland posted his second NCAA automatic qualifying mark in the long jump to win the event and highlight an outstanding day for the Shippensburg men's outdoor track and field squad, which leads by 25 points after the second day of the 2011 PSAC Championships.

Kirkland leapt 24 feet 10 ½ inches, less than three inches short of his season PR, on his final jump of the competition. Sophomore Cody DeBoer, who also has a NCAA automatic qualifier on his ledger this season, earned All-PSAC honors after posting a third-place mark of 23 feet 10 ¼ inches on his final jump. Sophomore Elijah Trusty placed eighth – his top mark was 22 feet 3 ½ inches.

SU had great results in both of the throwing events conducted Friday.

Junior Travis Nye took second in the shot put – shattering his PR with a throw of 50 feet 9 ¼ inches. Nye's previous PR of 48 feet 5 ¼ inches came at Millersville last season. He also placed eighth in last year's PSAC outdoor shot put.

Senior Steve D'Arcy finished fourth with a throw of 50 feet 3 ½ inches – D'Arcy finishes his collegiate shot put career having achieved a placewinning performance in every PSAC championship meet (indoor and outdoor) over the last four years.

In the javelin, senior Josh Hostetler earned a second-place finish in the javelin for the third consecutive year – his best throw Friday was 206 feet 1 inch. Hostetler placed in the javelin each year of his career – he finished fourth as a freshman. Graduate Christian D'Annibale took third place with a throw of 200 feet 4 inches and senior Glenn Bell held onto eighth place with a throw of 184 feet 10 inches.

On the track, junior Stephen Schelander displayed a wicked kick in the 5K to finish third with a time of 14:44.36. Senior Sean Stetler settled for sixth place – he finished in 14:54.14. The 5K did not begin until close to 10 p.m. because of a three-plus hour weather delay during the afternoon.

Competing in his first PSAC decathlon, freshman Austin Strine finished just short of a placewinning performance. Strine totaled 5,448 points – he scored well in the 100-meter hurdles on Friday after posting a time of 16.20 seconds.

Friday Prelims

Shippensburg is in position to significantly augment its score after its performances in Friday's preliminary qualifying.

The men's 4x100-meter relay squad of senior Kevin Marshall, freshman Herman Kirkland, freshman Jon Eisemann and sophomore Romarr Mayne tied East Stroudsburg's prestigious squad for the top seed time with a mark of 41 seconds flat.

Kirkland qualified for the 100 in 10.80 seconds; Eisemann in 10.82 seconds, and Marshall in 10.83 seconds. Mayne just missed reaching the finals after posting the ninth-fastest preliminary time.

Junior Tyrek Nelson posted a 110-meter hurdle time of 15.07 seconds; Eisemann qualified for the 200 in 22.06 seconds, and junior Eric Wolfe qualified for the 400-meter dash finals with a time of 49.41 seconds. Nelson and junior Kyle Raguz will compete in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles finals.

Three sophomores excelled in the 800 and will run again on Saturday. Tom Troxell qualified in 1:51.94; Matt Gillette crossed the line in 1:52.48 and Joel Flott posted a time of 1:52.54.

Competition resumes at 9 a.m. Saturday.