EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. -- The Rock claimed its first-ever Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference indoor men's team championship Sunday when it outscored Shippensburg by a 116.5 to 113 margin in the final point standings.
The men's title was the third won by a Rock indoor squad in the past two seasons. The Green and White women's team won sole possession of the 2007 title and shared the top spot this season.
Rock men claimed two individual titles in this year's two-day competition at East Stroudsburg University.
Graduate student
Brad Mueller sprinted to a 6.31 time to win the 55-meter dash title and, in the process, set a new PSAC record and solidified his automatic berth in the NCAA Division II indoor national championship competition.
Junior All-America performer
Jeff Weiss set a PSAC record with his winning time of 8:16.61 in the 3,000 meter run.
The SRU marks set by Mueller and Weiss in the course of establishing their conference-best-ever standards were two of four school records set by Green and White student-athletes this weekend.
Junior distance specialist
Pat Reagan ran a 14:35.30 time in the 5,000 meter run, while the 4x800 relay team recorded a 7:51.91 time. Both times were good for conference runner-up honors.
The 4x800 relay team consisted of
Chris Geddis,
John Strutt,
Jason Jamieson and Philip Rector.
Reagan's time in the 5,000m run earned him a provisional berth in the NCAA national championship competition. He also placed third (8:32.48) in the 3000m run won by Weiss.
Matt Bluman placed third, one spot behind Reagan, in the 5000m run (15:06.09) and was fourth (8:40.31) in the 3,000m run.
Two other Rock student-athletes also claimed runner-up finishes in individual events. #Tim Tray# finished second in the pole vault with a vault of 15-5, while
Steve Brenner was second in the high jump with a leap of 6-8.25.
Graham Ruskin tied for fourth place in the pole vault with a vault of 14-11.
Other Rock highlights included
Adam Jones' fourth-place finish in the weight throw (55-5.5) and
Brian Dell's No. 4 finish in the shot put (50-9.25).