MANSFIELD, Pa. — Senior Chris Mullin won the 3,000-meter steeplechase and sophomore Bryan Pearson won the shot put on Friday, while sophomore Dru Adighibe broke two school records and surpassed a conference record, as the Shippensburg University men's track & field team maintained its lead at the 2016 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Outdoor Championships.
 
Through eight events, Shippensburg has 84 points while second-place Slippery Rock has 40 points. IUP and East Stroudsburg are tied for third place with 39 points. SU also advanced seven men into the finals of the five individual events that ran preliminaries on Friday.
 
Of the Raider qualifiers, Adighibe was a shining star. He first broke Herman Kirkland's 2011 mark in the 100 meters (10.56) with a wind-legal time of 10.44 seconds that puts him 19th on the NCAA Division II performance list. He then came back in the 200 meters and ran 21.01 seconds — surpassing the all-time conference record of Millersville's Eddie Arnold (21.02 in 1991). Arnold still maintains the PSAC record officially, however, by virtue of a 4.4 wind reading on Adighibe's run. Conference records require a wind reading below 2.0, while NCAA-eligible marks require a wind reading below 4.0.

Mullin became a four-time conference place-winner in the steeplechase with his first PSAC Championship, leading wire-to-wire to win in 9:24.61. The eight-second victory complements a runner-up finish last year, a third-place finish in 2014 and a seventh-place run in 2013. He becomes one of just two athletes in the PSAC to become a four-time place-winner on the day, as ESU graduate student Travis Toth achieved the feat in the hammer throw.
 
Pearson claimed the conference title in the shot put on a throw of 55 feet, 3 ½ inches that was achieved on his second attempt. He also placed fifth in the hammer throw, putting him position to have three Top 5 finishes in throws at the meet as he enters Saturday boasting the top seed in the discus because of his conference record achieved earlier this season.  
 
Sophomore Alec Rideout was right there with Pearson in the shot put, finishing second on a throw of 55 feet, 1 inch that came on his first throw of the competition. Rideout, eighth a year ago, is still on the cusp of NCAA qualification as his season PR of 55 feet, 8 ¼ inches has him 19th on the national performance list.
 
Junior Caleb Bartlett placed sixth in the shot and claimed second place to ESU's Toth in the hammer throw on a solid mark of 191 feet. Bartlett will join Toth in the hammer at nationals in two weeks, as both men have put forth 200-foot throws on the year.
 
Graduate Wulf Sutcliffe took third in the hammer on a throw of 177 feet, 11 inches, while senior Garrett Vandebrake found the podium on a seventh-place mark of 165 feet, 8 inches. Entering Friday, Vandebrake was the only one of six SU qualifiers to have ever competed in the event.
 
Junior Danny Meyer completed the best decathlon of his career on Saturday by finishing second with a personal-best score of 6,246 points. Meyer achieved a NCAA provisional qualifier in finishing as the PSAC runner-up for the second straight year.
 
He improved 154 points upon his previous best that was set last year at the conference meet, beginning the day with a PR in the 110-meter hurdles (15.89 seconds) and later adding new bests in the discus and javelin. Redshirt-junior Matthew Merritt took 10th place in 5,115 points, landing a new PR in the javelin.
 
Junior Connor McHugh and sophomore Pat Manna placed fifth and seventh respectively in the pole vault to secure their first scoring performances outdoors after each man also reached the podium indoors this season. McHugh cleared 14 feet, 9 inches for a new outdoor personal best, while Manna got over the bar at 14 feet, 3 ¼ inches.
 
Junior Tim Usher and junior Calvin Conrad-Kline each finished seventh in their respective finals. Usher ran the 800 meters in 1:54.08, while Conrad-Kline completed the steeplechase in 9:46.20. It is the third straight year that Conrad-Kline has placed in the steeplechase.
 
Among the other qualifiers for Saturday, freshman Ori Rinaman will be the No. 2 seed in the 110-meter hurdles after winning his heat in 14.71 seconds. Junior Terry Jackson qualified for the 110-meter hurdles finals as the No. 7 seed by running a season-best 14.97 seconds. Junior Ricky Meriwether snuck into the finals of the 400, qualifying eighth in 49.54 seconds.
 
In an incredibly fast 100-meter field, freshman Chris Craig and senior RJ Smith qualified sixth and seventh by running 10.72 seconds and 10.75 seconds. Eighteen men broke 11 seconds in Friday's prelims, while nine men broke 22 seconds in the 200.
 
The final day of the 2016 PSAC Championships begins at 11 a.m. Saturday with the triple jump and the discus.
 
FRIDAY RESULTS
 
800
7. Tim Usher 1:54.08
Bernard England 1:57.32
 
3K Steeplechase
1. Chris Mullin 9:24.61
7. Calvin Conrad-Kline 9:46.20
Zack Despreaux 10:23.32
 
Pole Vault
5. Connor McHugh 14' 9" (4.50m)
7. Pat Manna 14' 3 ¼" (4.35m)
 
Long Jump
Jalen Ramsey 21' 0 ½" (6.41m)
Devon Fisher 20' 11 ¾" (6.39m)
Aboubacar Keita 20' 11 ¼" (6.38m)
 
Shot Put
1. Bryan Pearson 55' 3 ½" (16.85m) (NCAA 'P')
2. Alec Rideout 55' 1" (16.79m) (NCAA 'P')
6. Caleb Bartlett 49' 3 ½" (15.02m)
Ryan Hart foul
 
Hammer Throw
2. Caleb Bartlett 191' (58.22m) (NCAA 'P')
3. Wulf Sutcliffe 177' 11" (54.23m)
5. Bryan Pearson 168' 6" (51.35m)
7. Garrett Vandebrake 165' 8" (50.51m)
Tom Peppernick 154' 11" (47.23m)
Tyler Hewitt 125' 3" (38.19m)
 
Decathlon
2. Danny Meyer 6246 (NCAA 'P')
Matthew Merritt 5115
 
PRELIMS

100
1. Dru Adighibe 10.44q (NCAA 'P') (SU record)
6. Chris Craig 10.72q
7. RJ Smith 10.75q

200
1. Dru Adighibe 21.01q (SU record) (PSAC record)
RJ Smith 22.44
 
400
8. Ricky Meriwether 49.54q
 
110H
2. Ori Rinaman 14.71q
7. Terry Jackson 14.97q
Eric Hertzog 15.29
 
400H
Ori Rinaman 57.48
 
4x100
5. Devon Fisher, Tra-C Davis, Dru Adighibe, RJ Smith 42.98q