By: Bill Morgal, sports information director
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's indoor track & field team will be represented by three competitors:
Mason Boyd,
Drew Dailey, and
Lavar Jackson, at the 2024 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships being held at the Robert W. Plaster Center on the campus of Pittsburg State University.
Live results of the championships will be provided by Leone Timing and are linked above, along with start lists. Live video will be provided by the NCAA and is also linked above.
FRIDAY 11 AM EST (10 AM local in Pittsburg): BOYD (HEPTATHLON)
Boyd is making his NCAA Championships debut. He is the first Raider "multi" athlete to qualify for the indoor national championships since All-American and SU Hall of Famer Donnie Graybill placed fifth in the heptathlon at the 2010 NCAA Championships.
Boyd's personal best score is the all-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) record: 5,201 points (converted from 5,176 points) set at this year's conference championships at Lehigh.
His four events on the first day are the 60 meters, long jump, shot put and high jump.
"I am excited to go to nationals; It's been a long time coming for me," Boyd said. "It's been my ultimate goal. Training from December until now, it has been on my mind the entire time. I'm ready to get going."
FRIDAY 5:40 PM EST (4:40 PM local in Pittsburg): DAILEY (800 METERS)
Qualifying: There will be three preliminary heats of the 800 meters (17 total competitors). The Top 2 times from each heat will advance to finals, along with the next two top times. The finals are scheduled for 7:25 p.m. EST (6:25 p.m. local) Saturday. Dailey will run in Heat 2. The first two heats have six runners; the third heat has five runners.
Dailey is making his second consecutive NCAA Indoor Championships appearance. Last year, he finished 14th in prelims with a time of 1:56.53. Immediately after that race, Dailey underwent surgery for an injury that caused him to miss the 2023 outdoor season and 2023 cross country season.
He returned to competition this December and qualified for nationals on the final week of the season in late February by virtue of his time of 1:50.28 set at the Fastrack Last Chance Meet in Staten Island.
"It's definitely been a journey since literally having surgery almost a year ago today," Dailey said. "Coming back just in December, not having any idea where my fitness was at, where my body was at, or where my head was at. It is definitely a blessing to have an opportunity to compete at the national level."
Dailey's personal best of 1:49.49, set in February 2023 (pre-injury) at Boston's Valentine Invitational, stood as the all-time PSAC record until it was broken by fellow national qualifier Noah Bernarding (Cal (Pa.)) at the same Fastrack meet at which Dailey qualified. Bernarding ran 1:49.40.
Note: Dailey has three overall NCAA Indoor Championships qualifications; he was selected to compete in the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships that were canceled because of COVID. Dailey was selected that year as a part of the team's 4x400-meter relay but would not have been able to compete that year due to a different injury.
FRIDAY 6:15 PM EST (5:15 PM local in Pittsburg): JACKSON (200 METERS)
Qualifying: There will be five preliminary heats of the 200 meters. The Top 8 times will advance to finals, which are scheduled for 7:45 p.m. EST (6:45 p.m. local) Saturday. Prelim heat winners will not automatically advance to the finals. Jackson will run in Lane 6 in Heat 2.
Jackson, a first-year competitor, is making his NCAA Championships debut. His personal best is the school record, 21.57 seconds (21.19 seconds converted from flat track), achieved in his debut meet at Bucknell (Bison Opener) on December 1.
"We have great support from our team members," Jackson said. "They help me in practice every day and get me where I'm supposed to be. Getting to where I am now, I really shocked myself. Being able to compete against the best in the nation is really exciting for me, and I can't wait for it."
SATURDAY 1 PM EST (12 PM local in Pittsburg): BOYD (HEPTATHLON)
Boyd resumes the heptathlon with the 60-meter hurdles, followed by the pole vault and the 1,000 meters.
SATURDAY 7:25 PM EST (6:25 PM local in Pittsburg): 800 METER FINALS
SATURDAY 7:45 PM EST (6:45 PM local in Pittsburg): 200 METER FINALS
