By: Bill Morgal, sports information director
(The PSAC Championships home page, which includes the conference's championships tickets link, live video link, plus a full schedule, is available by clicking the adjacent home page link)
The Shippensburg University men's swimming team will be in action this week at the 2026 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships. Competition is set for Wednesday through Saturday at the Graham Aquatic Center in York.
It is the third consecutive season that every swimmer on the Raider roster has qualified to compete at the conference meet. This year, Shippensburg will have 18 competitors vying for scoring finishes over the course of the four-day championships.
The roster breakdown features one graduate student, three seniors, five juniors, three sophomores and six freshmen.
"The guys are swimming really well, and this is one of the best men's groups we've had in awhile in terms of talent," head coach
Tim Verge said. I've thought for a long time that, swimming – from a physical standpoint – we're ready. Mentally, if they're ready to get over there and race, they'll be in good shape."
For the Raiders, these four days are the culmination of a season that began all the way back in August with preseason. The team is ready for all of the hard work from a six-month regular season to come to fruition.
"It's certainly been a long journey," Noldy said. "We have a really great team in terms of supporting each other, we all do our part to help each other through it, because it's not an easy journey."
Verge echoed the cohesion of this year's men's team and the benefits that the support has provided.
"One of the positives of this team is that they all get along really well," Verge said. "We had a discussion a couple of weeks ago about relays, as you know everyone would like to be on them. I do think that we have a sincere group that, if they don't end up being on a relay, that they still really want to see the relays be successful. They've seen each other be successful, they've gotten excited at dual meets, and I think that will carry over well to this week."
Even with the additions of Kutztown and Pitt-Johnstown within the last two seasons, it remains that the Top 16 individual performances from the morning prelims will qualify for evening finals sessions and contribute points toward the team score.
"I think we have a lot of places where we can improve and move up," Verge said. "We have a lot of people who have the capability to make a final. But we have to be really good at the things that get us there – we have to avoid the little mistakes. I think the swimming between the walls will take care of itself."
Shippensburg has finished in sixth place at the PSAC meet in each of the last four seasons. The Raiders are vying to get back among the league's Top 5 with a strong performance this week.
"We're just excited and ready to go," Noldy said. "You get up behind the blocks, you have all of your adrenaline flowing, you're in the zone, and you're ready to put all that work to good use."
Shippensburg's Swimmers at the 2026 PSAC Championships:
Ian Deck (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson)
Ethan Dismuke (Tulsa, Ok./Jenks)
Ezekiel Eberly (Reading, Pa./Wilson)
Josh Einolf (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown Community)
Robbie Ferlick (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton)
Kiran George (East Petersburg, Pa./Hempfield)
Carter Hawkes (Bluffton, S.C./Bluffton (Lees-McRae))
Joe Herman (Titusville, Pa./Titusville)
Mason Hockenberry (Dover, Pa./Dover Area)
Alex Kissinger (Blandon, Pa./Fleetwood Area)
Mason Koeth (Wiesbaden, Germany/Wiesbaden)
Connor Ludwig (Ephrata, Pa./Conestoga Valley)
Cooper Mercer (Gainesville, Va./Battlefield)
Kevin Noldy (Hop Bottom, Pa./Elk Lake)
Luke Roettger (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield)
Josh Wall (Raleigh, N.C./Sanderson (Lees-McRae))
Nate Wauls (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn)
Kye Winslow (Franklin, Pa./Rocky Grove)
