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Macknair wins 10K, Herbster wins hammer as Men’s squad gets going

Courtesy of Shippensburg Athletics

Raiders win both finals on Thursday to stake early lead

 

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Josh Herbster (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) won the hammer throw and Chayce Macknair (Lewistown, Pa./Mifflin County) was the victor in the 10,000 meters on Thursday as the Shippensburg University men’s outdoor track & field team raced out to the lead at the 2021 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships being contested at Seth Grove Stadium.

 

Shippensburg won both of the events that were completed Thursday and also has two men in the Top 6 of the decathlon standings. The Raiders are off to a strong start in pursuit of their 12th consecutive league title.

 

In the field, SU went 1-2 in the hammer.

 

Herbster entered the day with a personal best of 186 feet, 3 inches (56.78 meters) and proceeded to surpass his PR on each of his first five throws of the competition, and each throw was farther than any of the of the marks of the other competitors. His newly improved NCAA-provisional qualifying throw of 194 feet, 11 inches came on his first throw of finals and moved him up 19 slots on the national performance list to a spot just outside the Top 20. It was a sterling hammer sequence for the Mechanicsburg native.

 

Cam Strohe (Bangor, Pa./Bangor Area), the 2019 PSAC hammer champion, finished as the runner-up on a top throw of 184 feet, 4 inches that he achieved on his final attempt. It is his third straight All-PSAC finish in the event, complementing a third-place finish as a sophomore in 2018.

 

On the track, SU went 1-3 in the 10K.

 

Macknair and East Stroudsburg’s Casey Ellis engaged in their latest long distance clash of 2021 that dated back to the cross country season in February. The two men were even with four laps to go when Macknair began a spirited surge, gaining six seconds of separation in Lap 23 over the course of just 400 meters. Macknair finished with an eight-second win, crossing the line in 30:58.65 for the title in his outdoor conference debut.

 

Hayden Hunt (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg Area) ran in third place consistently throughout the entire race and finished in that same position to achieve an All-PSAC finish in his debut conference 10K. Hunt’s time of 31:37.73 was 13 seconds ahead of fourth place.

 

The day began with Mason Boyd (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) and Robert Lissner (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle Area) impressing in the decathlon. Boyd began with the fastest 100 meters of the field, a PR of 11.19 seconds, and then reeled off the farthest long jump of the competition, a PR of 22 feet, 10 inches (6.96 meters). His 400-meter dash of 50.10 seconds, another collegiate best, put him in the lead through the first five events with a score of 3,518 points. Slippery Rock’s Jason Goodman is nine points behind.

 

Lissner’s long jump of 20 feet, 9 inches (6.32 meters) and his 400-meter dash of 51.65 seconds marked improved collegiate bests that have him in sixth place through the first day of competition.

 

Friday’s action begins with the resumption of the decathlon at 10 a.m.

 

Thursday Completed Events

 

10K

  1. Chayce Macknair 30:58.65
  2. Hayden Hunt 31:37.73
  3. Nate Kaplon 33:24.56
  4. Nathan Harding 33:47.71

 

Hammer

  1. Josh Herbster 194’ 11” (59.42m) (NCAA ‘P’)
  2. Cam Strohe 184’ 4” (56.20m) (NCAA ‘P’)
  3. Brooks Bear 159’ 8” (48.67m)

Pat Maloney NM

 

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