SELINSGROVE, PA. – Following a two week break and a slight change in schedule, the IUP men's and women's track and field teams were back in action on Saturday, as the two squads ramped up their preparations for the upcoming PSAC Indoor Track and Field Championships at the end of the month. The Crimson Hawks enjoyed a very productive day on Saturday at the Susquehanna University Invitational, with many members of the team earning PSAC qualifying marks at the meet, to go along with several top three finishes.
 
Race Notes
>> The Crimson Hawks sent over 30 athletes between their two teams to compete on Saturday at Susquehanna University.
>> The Crimson Hawks were one of several Division II teams competing on Saturday.
>> Emphasizing the Crimson Hawks dominance at the meet were the 12 top three finishes earned by IUP athletes in their events at the Invitational.
>> Overall the Crimson Hawks managed to earn 18 PSAC qualifying marks between the men's and women's teams on Saturday in Selinsgrove.

Top Performers
>> Senior Noah Mandel had one of his strongest outings thus far for IUP at the meet on Saturday. Mandel finished 3^rd overall in the men's 5,000 meters, and was the top Division II finisher in the race.
>> The women's 5,000 meters also proved to a productive race for the Crimson Hawks. Junior Brianna Herr claimed second place with a time of 19:07.15, while senior Ala Small also earned a top five finish, coming in fourth overall with a time of 19:22.10.
>> Noah Shannon-Hatchett came within less than a second of winning his race on Saturday. The sophomore posted a time of 7.07 seconds in the men's 60 meter dash to just miss out on claiming victory in the race. Shannon-Hatchett also finished in the top 10 in his second race of the meet. Shannon-Hatchett came in seventh overall in the men's 200 meter dash with a time of 23.65 seconds.
>> Eliezier Silvestre was the top performer for the Crimson Hawks in the men's 400 meter dash. Silvestre came in eighth overall, and first amongst Division II runners with a time of 53.17 seconds. Teammates Jeremiah Parsons (53.97 seconds) and Steven Reid (54.02 seconds) came in 14^th and 15^th respectively.
>> Junior Sam Lenze grabbed another top three finish for IUP on Saturday. Lenze came in second overall in the men's 3,000 meters with a time of 8:54.85.
>> The IUP men's track and field team continued its remarkable run of dominance in the high jump yet again on Saturday. The Crimson Hawks claimed four of the top five spots in the event. However, this time it was Freshman Juan Mato-Segura who claimed first place for the Crimson Hawks (via a tie-breaker) and second overall, with teammate Christian Jones coming in one spot behind him in third. Freshman duo Elie Basenga and Jayden Thomas rounded out the top five for IUP finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
>> The men's pole vault team also put together an impressive outing for IUP in Selinsgrove. Jeremy Adamson and Breadon Sheeshley managed to come in sixth and seventh overall in the event. Adamson actually cleared the same hit as the fourth and fifth place finishers, but ended up coming up just short in the tie-breaker.  
>> Ethan Riley came in sixth in the men's long jump on Saturday with a distance of 6.74 meters.
>> Back on the women's side of things, senior Niasia Harding came in eighth overall in the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:03.10.
>> Freshman Paige Wess earned an impressive second place finish in the women's mile. Wess was the fastest Division II runner in the event with a blistering time of 5:27.71. Teammate Erin McGrath finished eleventh overall with a time of 5:41.99.
>> Stefanie Ketterman cleared a height of 1.45 meters in the women's high jump to finish eighth overall at the meet.
>> As she has all indoor season long, Nickeela Austin was a dominant force in her events on Saturday. Austin finished second overall and first amongst Division II athletes in both the women's long and triple jumps.  

PSAC and NCAA Qualifiers
>> In addition to finishing second in the women's 5,000 meters, Brianna Herr's time of 19:07.15 earned a PSAC qualifying mark. Herr wasn't the only Crimson Hawk to earn a PSAC mark in the 5,000 meters, as Noah Mandel also claimed a conference spot in the men's edition of the race with a time of 15:53.56.
>> Noah Shannon-Hatchett posted his second best time of the year in the men's 60 meter dash on Saturday. His time of 7.07 seconds in the race was fast enough to earn him a PSAC qualifying mark.
>> Sam Lenze notched another PSAC qualifying mark on Saturday in the 3,000 meters. His time of 8:54.85 saw him comfortably qualify for the PSAC championships in the event. Lenze was joined in earned a PSAC mark in the 3,000 meters by teammate Nathan Skodi, who came in 12^th overall with a time of 9:07.57.
>> Despite competing in a stacked field in the men's 60 meter high hurdles, freshman Addison Singleton managed to earn a PSAC mark with a time of 8.91 in his preliminary hear.
>> Once again all four of IUP's high jumpers earned PSAC marks in the men's edition of the event. Juan Mato-Segura and Christian Jones both hit 1.95 meters, while Elie Basenga cleared 1.90 meters, and Thomas Jayden also earned the conference mark with his height of 1.85 meters.
>> Jeremy Adamson cleared 4.05 meters to earn a PSAC mark in the men's pole vault, while Sheeshley's height of 3.90 meters was his second best height of the season and also earned him a PSAC qualifying spot.
>> All told, it was a fairly dominant day for the IUP men's track and field team in jumping events, as Ethan Riley and Elie Basenga both added to the Crimson Hawks' PSAC qualifying haul in the long jump and triple jump. Riley's distance of 6.74 meters in the long jump qualified for the conference tournament, while Basenga managed to hit 12.88 meters in the triple jump to join his teammates in qualifying. 
>> Paige Wess also earned a PSAC mark for the women's team, as her time of 5:27.71 in the mile was her second fastest time in the race this indoor season.
>> Nickeela Austin earned two PSAC marks on Saturday at the Susquehanna Invitational. Austin's distance of 5.50 meters in the long jump and 11.41 meters in the triple jump both surpassed the conference qualifying requirements. Austin was joined in earning a conference mark in the triple jump by teammate Rachel Horrell, whose distance of 10.81 meters also helped her to earn 6^th place overall. Horrell's result was the second best distance by a Division II athlete in the triple jump, and was only bested by Austin's result.

Up Next
>> The Crimson Hawks will take part in the final race of their indoor regular season next weekend when they travel to Kent, Ohio to take part in the Kent State Tune-Up on Saturday, February, 22^nd.
 
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