Leah Graybill (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) once again enhanced her school record in the indoor 200 meters on Friday to highlight an excellent day for the Shippensburg University women’s indoor track & field team at the 2023 Hemery Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University.
Graybill ran 24.14 on the banked Boston track, moving her solely into sixth place on the national leaderboard for the 200 meters and further improving the likelihood of her competing in the event at the national championships next month.
In the first four meets this season, Graybill progressively ran faster – beginning with 24.95 seconds in December, 24.78 seconds on Jan. 21 and 24.57 seconds on Jan. 28. Those three times came on the flat track at Bucknell. She also competed last week at Penn State. Today’s 200-meter time is .06 seconds faster than the conversion (24.20 seconds) of her flat-track time two weeks ago at Bucknell and is her latest personal best.
It was one of many personal bests on the day for the Raiders, who especially shined in the 400 meters and in the mile. All 10 of Shippensburg’s individual performances on the day satisfied the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) automatic qualifying standard.
Caroline Mastria (Sykesville, Md./Century) and Alyssa Wert (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) each delivered sterling runs in the 400 meters. Mastria ran 57.40 seconds – the fastest non-converted time of her collegiate indoor career – while Wert broke the 59-second mark for the first time by crossing the line in 58.99 seconds. It now gives Shippensburg three of the top four spots on the conference leaderboard in the 400 meters.
The 4×400-meter relay of Graybill, Aliyah Serrano (Womelsdorf, Pa./Conrad Weiser (Mansfield)), Wert and Mastria finished in 3:54.06 – the fastest time by any Raider 4×4 relay since the school record and all-time PSAC record was set eight years ago in Boston by Bri Fells, Kiana Tucker, Lindsay Sheehan and Megan Lundy (3:50.75). It is one the five fastest 4×4 relays in school history.
Serrano improved her personal best in the 200 meters, running 25.08 seconds. She (7.95 seconds) and Graybill (7.74) competed earlier in the day in the invitational heat of the 60 meters.
Kelsey Hull (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley) and Kyra Gerber (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York) established new personal bests in the mile. Hull ran 5:10.35, a four-second PR, to move into the conference’s Top 5 for the event. Gerber, who had already run the 800 in 2:18.72, completed the mile in 5:11.80 for an improvement of more than two seconds off her previous best.
Isabelle Gulgert (Herndon, Va./South Lakes) upped her distance above a mile for the first time this season by completing 3,000 meters in 10:24.95 – a 15-second PR from her previous best at last year’s conference championships. It was her fourth collegiate indoor 3K race.
A separate contingent of the women’s team will compete Saturday at Alvernia.
60 Invitational
Leah Graybill 7.74 (PSAC)
Aliyah Serrano 7.95 (PSAC)
200
Leah Graybill 24.14 (NCAA ‘P’)
Aliyah Serrano 25.08 (PSAC)
400
Caroline Mastria 57.40 (PSAC)
Alyssa Wert 58.99 (PSAC)
800
Kyra Gerber 2:18.72 (PSAC)
Mile
Kelsey Hull 5:10.35 (PSAC)
Kyra Gerber 5:11.80 (PSAC)
3K
Isabelle Gulgert 10:24.95 (PSAC)
4×400 Relay
Leah Graybill, Aliyah Serrano, Alyssa Wert, Caroline Mastria 3:54.06
