By: Bill Morgal, sports information director
Quinton Townsend became just the second Raider in school history to break the 48-second mark in the indoor 400 meters Friday to highlight the first day of competition for the Shippensburg University men's indoor track & field team at Liberty's Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational.
Townsend made it his third straight week with an improved time in the 400 and his second straight week with a PR, crossing the finish line third in the invitational section of the race in 47.80 seconds. It ranks him second in school history behind record-holder Aaron Arp Jr. (47.40 seconds in 2020). Among the runners he defeated were three from UNC and two from Navy.
The NCAA provisional qualifier ties for 25th on the national leaderboard pending the results of action this weekend from across the country.
Chase Hensinger made it three straight weeks with a new PR in the indoor 800, as his time of 1:52.21 in the invitational section of the race slides him up one spot to the No. 3 position in school history past Chris Brezler (1:52.27/1:53.88 in 1992). He has improved a total of 0.66 seconds spanning his runs at Widener (1:52.87) two weeks ago and Penn State (1:52.57) last week.
Ethan Conrad had a huge breakthrough in the long jump, exceeding the seven-meter mark for the first time with a stupendous leap of 23 feet, 5 ¼ inches (7.14 meters). It earned sixth place at the top pit (Liberty splits the long jump over two pits at their first-rate facility) and puts him into the No. 8 position all-time at Shippensburg in the event.
Overall, it's a long jump PR of 10 ¼ inches (0.26 meters) for Conrad.
Similarly to Hensinger, it is also the third straight meet that Conrad has landed a new personal best in the long jump. It is also the fourth time this season that Conrad exceeded his previous collegiate PR entering the season, which was a mark of 21 feet, 8 ¾ inches (6.62 meters) at the Bison Opener in December 2024.
It was a strong day of sprints for
Ni'male Greenwood and
Ke'Aune Green, who qualified for Saturday's finals in the 60-meter dash. This weekend's event at Liberty includes prelims and semifinals, from which both Raiders emerged with Top 8 times.
Greenwood opened with a time of 6.90 seconds while Green was just .04 seconds behind. Both men followed with times of 6.87 seconds in the semifinals to earn one more sprint tomorrow.
Ben Hummel won the open section of the 800 meters with a time of 1:55.18, while
Owen Shrader was close behind with an indoor best of 1:55.50 that earned him third place.
Isaiah Brightman came very close to his season best (8.27) in the 60-meter hurdles, running 8.33 seconds.
Mohamed Himmad came within .02 seconds of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) qualifier in the 400 meters, running 49.92 seconds in the open section for a new personal best.
Action resumes at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.
60
Ni'male Greenwood (6.90p) (6.87sf) (PSAC)
Ke'Aune Green (6.94p) (6.87sf) (PSAC)
Lavar Jackson 7.17
400 (Invite)
3.
Quinton Townsend 47.80 (No. 2 all-time at SU) (NCAA 'P')
400 (Open)
Mohamed Himmad 49.92
800 (Invite)
Chase Hensinger 1:52.21 (PSAC) (No. 3 all-time at SU)
800 (Open)
1.
Ben Hummel 1:55.18 (PSAC)
3.
Owen Shrader 1:55.50 (PSAC)
Davey Johnson 1:59.91
3K (Invite)
No entries
3K (Open)
Brennan Wellock 8:46.88
Jaycen Conrad 8:51.49
5K (Invite)
No entries
60 Hurdles
Isaiah Brightman 8.33 (8.40p) (PSAC)
Ethan Conrad 8.79
Long Jump (Pit 1)
6.
Ethan Conrad 23' 5 ¼" (7.14m) (PSAC) (No. 8 all-time at SU)
Jak Kearney 21' 9" (6.63m)
Long Jump (Pit 2)
No entries
Weight
Donovan Kitchen 51' 9 ¾" (15.79m) (PSAC)
Ridge Crispino 50' 0 ½" (15.25m) (PSAC)
Gian Greggo FOUL
