The Shippensburg University women's indoor track & field team went toe-to-toe Sunday with archrival Slippery Rock in another classic battle at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Indoor Championships, with the two teams exchanging leads throughout the day before the Raiders won the 4x400-meter relay to emerge with their sixth league title from Edinboro University's Zafirovski Dome.
 
Shippensburg scored 122 points, a 36-point improvement from last season, to defeat The Rock by eight points. Bloomsburg took third with 71 points, while California (Pa.) was just one point behind in fourth place.
 
"Every point is really important, as always," head coach Dave Osanitsch said. "You need to have a team effort to win, and this is another example of that. Our expected point scorers produced, and there were several who were not seeded who stepped up and scored."
 
SU trailed The Rock with three events left but was bolstered by a late charge from its throwers. SU scored a 17-point swing in the shot put, placing 2-3-4-7 in the event, putting the Raiders in position to claim a victory if things went right in the 4x4 relay.
 
Needing a four-point difference, SU won the relay while The Rock ended up finishing seventh before ultimately getting disqualified after a fall caused them to go out of their lane.
 
"It was pretty wild at the end of the meet," Osanitsch said of the conclusion. "People kept running back and forth checking the scores of the two events. It was really one of the most exciting indoor crowds we've had."
 
The Raiders had 21 different competitors contribute to their team score either as an individual or on a relay, well exceeding their pre-meet projections on paper.
 
"They were so calm and confident," Osanitsch said. "They took it one event at a time and didn't get caught up in what others were doing. They never got over-anxious. They didn't look at it like it was their meet to lose, they looked at it like it was their meet to win."
 
Once again, the 4x4 relay came through when needed. Having already set an all-time PSAC indoor record this season, senior Bri Fells, redshirt-freshman Kiana Tucker, freshman Lindsay Sheehan and junior Megan Lundy ran 3:54.85 for a wire-to-wire win.
 
It capped off a splendid day for Fells, who won her first league title in the 400 meters with a time of 57.21 seconds and a convincing victory. Fells has scored in the 400 meters in all seven of her league meets; she finished as a runner-up both indoors and outdoors last year to Lundy – who on Sunday had to speed to past two other runners late to claim second place in 58.26 seconds.
 
Not to be outdone, Fells also placed sixth in the 200 meters (25.74) and Sheehan finished seventh (25.86).
 
Sophomore Sarah Hunt won her first PSAC championship, claiming the triple jump on her last attempt in an exciting competition. Seton Hill's Nichelle McMillian led most of the way, popping a jump of 38 feet, 2 inches on her first attempt, but IUP's Brooke Smay took the lead on her fifth attempt and enhanced it on her last attempt, posting a mark of 38 feet, 6 ¼ inches. On her last jump, Hunt landed a mark of 38 feet, 8 ¾ inches and withstood one last attempt from McMillian to claim her title.
 
The aforementioned shot put featured personal bests from all SU four place-winners and a school record for senior Liz Ross, who improved her own benchmark by throwing 46 feet, 9 inches. Ross actually tied West Chester's defending champion, Kayla Owens, but Owens had a better "second-best" throw to defend her league title.
 
Sophomore Ava Bonetti landed a huge PR of nearly three feet, claiming third place with an All-PSAC throw of 44 feet, 2 inches on her final attempt. Another SU newcomer, sophomore Tamara Ovejera, notched fourth place by throwing 44 feet, 0 ½ inches on her fifth throw. Freshman Erin Doherty snuck into seventh place with a shot put of 40 feet, 9 inches.
 
SU got a big dose of momentum early in the day from redshirt-freshman Danielle Sciremammano. Unseeded entering the weekend, Sciremammano ran 9.08 seconds in yesterday's prelims before racing to a third-place, All-PSAC finish of 9.04 seconds on Sunday for six big team points. Prior to Saturday, Sciremammano's previous PR was 9.33 seconds.
 
Two sophomores also contributed key points for the Raiders. Lauryn Solt followed up an eighth-place turn in the high jump last year by improving to fifth this year, clearing 5 feet, 4 ¼ inches on her first attempt. One day after taking third in the 5K, Casey Norton ran sixth in the 3K on a time of 10:11.88.
 
"It's pretty darn exciting," Osanitsch said. "I'm extremely proud of this great group of women."
 
1. Shippensburg 122 points
 
200
6. Bri Fells 25.74
7. Lindsay Sheehan 25.86
 
400
1. Bri Fells 57.21
2. Megan Lundy 58.26
 
800
Kiana Tucker 2:21.07
Laura Kibathi 2:22.89
Erika Huffman 2:23.85
April Schlusser 2:25.07
 
Mile
Hannah Fulton 5:16.34
April Schlusser 5:26.64
 
3K
6. Casey Norton 10:11.88
Patty Reis 10:22.22
Hannah Fulton 10:33.60
Caity Reese 10:53.60
 
60H
3. Danielle Sciremammano 9.04
 
4x4
1. Bri Fells, Kiana Tucker, Lindsay Sheehan, Megan Lundy 3:54.85
 
High Jump
5. Lauryn Solt 5' 4 ¼" (1.63m)
Sam Beckerleg 5' 0 ¼" (1.53m)
 
Triple Jump
1. Sarah Hunt 38' 8 ¾" (11.80m)
Alyssa Sitch 32' 6 ½" (9.92m)
 
Shot Put
2. Liz Ross 46' 9" (14.25m)
3. Ava Bonetti 44' 2" (13.46m)
4. Tamara Ovejera 44' 0 ½" (13.42m)
7. Erin Doherty 40' 9" (12.42m)
Sabrina Johnson 36' 9 ½" (11.21m)