By: Bill Morgal, sports information director
The Shippensburg University men's indoor track & field team went to Philadelphia on Sunday and accomplished what it had hoped to do, racking up a bevy of new season bests in action at the Schuylkill Showcase hosted by Widener.
Sunday's meet is new to the SU schedule this season and gave the Raiders the chance to compete at a fresh venue. It was held at the state-of-the-art Jane & David Ott Center on the campus of Penn in downtown Philadelphia; it opened two years ago and includes a banked track.
Of the many season bests, several cracked SU's all-time Top 10 event rankings. Among the standouts were
Tommy Crum Jr. and
Chase Hensinger, who delivered mid-distance gems.
Crum crushed his PR in the mile, winning the event with a sterling time of 4:07.69 that moves him into fourth all-time among Raiders. It is more than three seconds faster than his run at Liberty last season that had him initially crack the rankings at No. 9. He was only a tenth of a second off the pace of the No. 3 performance all-time at SU, that of his distance coach,
Steve Spence.
Hensinger zoomed around the track in the 800 to the tune of his first sub-1:53 time, crossing the finish line in 1:52.87 to win the event and improve his No. 5 all-time ranking in the event at Shippensburg.
The Raider runs in the 200 meters are appointment viewing each week, and Sunday provided its share of highlights.
Ke'Aune Green finished second in 21.57 seconds – an unconverted best that once again satisfied the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying standards. Green's season-opening time at Bucknell, a time of 21.70 seconds that converts to 21.32 seconds on a banked track – remains his PR that is second in school history.
Quinton Townsend, the reigning Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Champion in the 200, set a new personal best of 21.67 seconds to finish third. Townsend's time officially puts him in the No. 10 spot on SU's all-time rankings. It's his second sub-22 second 200 – he ran 21.99 seconds on the bouncy Boston track as a freshman – and it is an improvement of .08 seconds from his converted best (21.75 seconds from a 22.14-second run at the 2023 PSAC Championships).
Townsend also ran an unconverted best in the 400 meters, finishing third in a time of 49.08 seconds that slots as his second-fastest performance as a collegian. His time of 49.77 seconds on a flat track at last year's PSAC Championships converts to 48.99 seconds.
Jak Kearney was two spots behind Townsend in the 400, running 49.16 seconds. Kearney was just .07 seconds shy of his unconverted PR.
Ni'male Greenwood, a Simon Gratz grad, delivered an improved 200 of 22.02 seconds, finishing seventh, after pacing the Raiders in the 60-meter dash earlier in the day with a new PR of 6.90 seconds.
Jackson Sotosky delivered his second seven-meter long jump of the year (7.01 meters), landing a second-place leap of 23 feet.
Daniel Naylor came within four-tenths of a second of the PSAC standard in the mile, running 4:24.40.
Shippensburg splits its squad again next week, with one group traveling Friday to Susquehanna and another that will go to Penn State on Saturday.
60
4.
Ni'male Greenwood 6.90 (PSAC)
Lavar Jackson 7.13
200
2.
Ke'Aune Green 21.57 (NCAA 'P')
3.
Quinton Townsend 21.67 (PSAC) (No. 10 all-time at SU)
7.
Ni'male Greenwood 22.02 (PSAC)
Lavar Jackson 22.21
400
3.
Quinton Townsend 49.08 (PSAC)
5.
Jak Kearney 49.16 (PSAC)
800
1.
Chase Hensinger 1:52.87 (PSAC) (No. 5 all-time at SU)
Jackson Gutekunst 1:58.54
Daniel Naylor 2:02.39
Mile
1.
Tommy Crum Jr. 4:07.69 (PSAC) (No. 4 all-time at SU)
7.
Daniel Naylor 4:24.40
5K
No entries
60 Hurdles
No entries
4x4 Relay
No entries
High Jump
No entries
Pole Vault
No entries
Long Jump
2.
Jackson Sotosky 23' (7.01m) (PSAC)
Triple Jump
Jabrie Gaymon 42' 5 ¼" (12.93m)
Shot (contested Saturday)
No entries
Weight (contested Saturday)
No entries
