Rock Captures Outdoor Championship
From Slippery Rock Sports Information
FULL RESULTS
INDIANA, Pa. -- The Rock claimed its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference team title since 2000 Saturday when it outscored second-place Lock Haven by 16.5 points to win the top honor in competition at IUP’s Miller Stadium.
The Rock finished the three-day competition with 124.5 points, followed by Lock Haven with 108 and third-place Shippensburg with 101.5.
The team title was 13th in the team’s history dating back to its first crown in 1960. Under head coach John Papa, the Rock has now claimed four league titles since he took over the program in 1986. The Rock tied Kutztown for top honors in 2000, as this year's title was the program's first outright since 1994.
The Rock's championship effort this weekend was paced by All-America sprinter Brad Mueller's first-place, school-record time of 10.47 seconds in the 100-meter dash.
That time also improved upon Mueller's NCAA Division II national championship provisional qualifying time.
Mueller was the only Rock male student-athlete to claim a first-place finish. SRU collected seven second-place finishes, three third-place honors and three fourth-place finishes.
All-America distance runner Jeff Weiss claimed conference runner-up honors in both the 5.000 and 10,000 meter runs with times of 14:23.04 and 30:31.08, respectively. His time in the shorter race met NCAA provisional qualifying standards.
Weiss was followed across the finish line in both races by SRU teammate Pat Reagan, who recorded 14:41.27 and 31:02.51 times. Like Weiss, his time in the 5,000m event met NCAA provisional qualifying standards.
Adam Jones also claimed two top-four finishes for SRU as he finished second in the hammer throw with an NCAA provisional distance of 175-6 and placed fourth in the shot put with a toss of 50-5.5.
Also claiming conference runner-up honors for the Green and White were Mike Rose in the decathlon (6,290 points), Chris Warning in the discus throw (156-2), Phil Rector in the 800m run (1:54.38) and Tim Tray in the pole vault (16-2.75).
Tray's height in the pole vault also met NCAA national provisional qualifying standards.
Terrece Draper placed third in the triple jump (47-3.75), Brady Wert was fourth in the decathlon (5.988 points) and Nate Shadeck was fourth in the 400m hurdles (54.18) to round out SRU's top-four finishes.
California’s Brad Rager was named the Track and Overall MVP after posting four first-place finishes. He won both the 200m (21.08) and 400m (47.05) races as an individual and partnered with teammates to claim top spots in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, as well.
East Stroudsburg’s Paul Wagner and IUP’s Chris Gardner shared the MVP honors for field events. Wagner’s top efforts came in the hammer throw (179-5 – 1st) and the discus (147-6 – 5th), while Gardner won the long jump (24-1.5) and placed second in the high jump (6-9.75).
The Rock women also won the 2008 team title. Click HERE for the women's recap.