SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Shippensburg University was named the recipient of the 2024 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Men's Outdoor Track & Field Coaching Staff of the Year award on Thursday afternoon. Voting is conducted by the league's head coaches.
 
The Shippensburg University staff is led by head coach Dave Osanitsch, the 2024 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Atlantic Region Men's Outdoor Head Coach of the Year.
 
Osanitsch is assisted by Steve Spence (mid-distance/distance), the 2024 USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Men's Assistant of the Year, along with Doug Knol (sprints/hurdles), Alison Freas (throws), Tyler Hewitt (throws), Kurt Dunkel (throws), Sarah Hewitt (jumps), Kyle Grove (jumps) and AJ Plowman (mid-distance/distance).
 
It is the 14th consecutive season that Osanitsch and Shippensburg have been recognized with the PSAC's outdoor coaching award. Last year, the award transitioned from Coach of the Year to Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
Shippensburg won the 2024 PSAC Outdoor Championship, its 15th straight league title, by scoring in all 21 events to total an incredible 246.83 points. The Raiders had a 98.5-point victory margin.
 
SU was ranked atop the USTFCCCA's Atlantic Region Track & Field Ratings Index (TFRI) for the entire 2024 season. The Regional TFRI is a system that uses an algorithm and formulas to weigh a team's strength in their region by event in a dual-meet type of setting.
 
Shippensburg's regional TFRI score (930.71 points) finished as the seventh highest total in NCAA Division II this season.
 
SU won nine events and scored 70 more points compared to last year's conference meet. Shippensburg had 20 All-PSAC (Top 3) individual finishers (15 on track, five in field). Multiple Raiders scored in 13 events, and SU scored 10 or more points in 13 of the 21 events as well.
 
Two Shippensburg competitors made it to the 2024 NCAA Division II National Championships, and both came away with All-America First Team honors: Drew Dailey (fifth in 800) and Josh Herbster (third in hammer).
 
Spence's distance squad delivered an eye-popping 99 points from just five events, sweeping the gold medals in every distance race (800, 1,500, 5K, 10K and 3,000-meter steeplechase). SU scored 54 points alone from just the 5K (four scorers, 25 points) and 10K (five scorers, 29 points).
 
At the 2024 PSAC Outdoor Championships, Garrett Quinan was named the Most Valuable Athlete after winning the 5K and the 10K, and Ian Sherlock was named the Outstanding Track Athlete after winning the 1,500 meters and the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
 
SU has now won 31 PSAC Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the most of any PSAC school.
 
Osanitsch is now a 49-time PSAC Coach of the Year (spanning the four sports of men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field) when including four career Coaching Staff of the Year awards. He has been honored 15 times overall by the PSAC for his outdoor coaching prowess of the SU men's teams, having first garnered the Coach of the Year award in 2006 prior the run of 14 consecutive awards.