Smith, Shigo lead Penn State to Big Ten title
Xavier Smith and Morgan Shigo helped Penn State men’s track team capture its first-ever Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championship on May 15 in University Park. And both have been rewarded by earning a trip to the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round starting Thursday in Lexington, Ky.
Junior Smith, a Daniel Boone grad, finished second in the 100 (wind-aided 10.10) and 200 meter (wind-aided 29.23) dashes and ran a leg on the second-place finishing 4x4 with a time of 3:05.22.
Sophomore Shigo, a Fleetwood Area grad, finished second in the hammer throw with a personal record heave of 222 feet, 11 inches.
Smith will compete in the 100 at the prelims. He’s seeded 35th with a time of 10.35. He’ll also compete in the 4x1 (39.48) and 4x4 (3:05.22) relays, both ranked 17th. This will be the first time that Smith has run the 100 in the prelims. His 4x4 relay finished 10th indoors last winter and his 4x1 relay finished 17th outdoors last spring.
Shigo’s effort at the Big Ten meet places him 14th on the hammer throw list. He finished 28th as a freshman but earned AllAmerican honors by finishing eighth in the weight throw last winter.
The top 24 finishers in each event will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 7-10 in Eugene, Ore.
The Penn State sophomore is seeded 21st in the javelin throw at the NCAA East Preliminary Round starting Thursday in Lexington, Ky. Her season and career-best mark of 159 feet, 3 inches was recorded when she captured the event at LSU’s Battle on the Bayou on April 8 in Baton Rouge, La. Sievers finished 23rd in the East Prelims last spring as a freshman, hitting 144 feet, 4 inches. She prepped for this year’s meet by finishing ninth (141-3) in the Big Ten Outdoor Championships May 12-14 in University Park.
The senior left-hander posted a 5-2 record with a save for the Misericordia baseball team. The highlight of the season came on April 23 when he pitched a nohitter in a seven-inning 7-0 victory over Eastern. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out eight. On the season, Pelko pitched in 15 games with 11 starts and had a 4.20 earned run average. In 64.1 innings, he gave up 55 hits and 37 runs, 30 earned, with 16 walks and 46 strikeouts. The Cougars finished 30-14, captured their seventh straight MAC Freedom title and saw the season end with a 12-7 loss to Washington & Jefferson in the first round of the NCA A Tournament on May 18. The senior hit .365 (27-for-74) in 26 games and 23 starts for the talented Neumann softball team that finished 29-16 after posting a 19-3 record and captured the Colonial States Athletic Conference title to earn a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament where the Knights posted a 1-2 record. Bond had three doubles, eight runs batted in and 16 runs scored and was 4-for-4 in stolen bases. She wrapped up her career with a 15-game hitting streak, going 21-for-47, a .447 average.
The Wake Forest freshman has earned a spot in the Division I East Preliminary Round starting Thursday in Lexington, Ky. Shalaway is ranked 38th in the javelin throw with a toss of 211 feet, 2 inches. That mark came when he finished third in the Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Track Championships May 12-14 in Atlanta. That effort shattered his previous best performance when he finished first at the Tennessee Challenge in Knoxville with a heave of 195 feet, 3 inches.
The freshman hit .381 for the Salisbury softball team which finished 21-19 overall and 10-4 in the Capital Athletic Conference. She had 32 hits in 84 at-bats with six doubles, a triple, 18 runs batted in and 27 runs scored. She walked 16 times and was 6-for-6 in stolen bases. Yerger had 14 hits in 22 atbats in the final seven games of the season and was 3-for-3 in a 4-0 league loss to Catholic in the final contest on April 29.