SHIPPENSBURG, Pa.- The West Chester University men's track and field team is preparing for the PSAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg this weekend, with action getting underway on Thursday with the beginning of the Decathlon, along with the 10K and hammer, on days two and three of the Championships on Friday and Saturday.
"We've had a really good, fun spring season," acknowledged Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Colin Leak when asked about the season that was heading into Championship weekend. "It's been great to see our development week over week not only individually but as a unit and this weekend is our chance to see how that all comes together."
The PSAC has launched a Championship central page, which is available
here. This page includes complete information about the meet, including the live results link, event schedule, and ticketing information. As has become standard for PSAC Championship events in recent years, there will be no cash ticket sales at Shippensburg, and tickets must be purchased via this
link (Hudl Ticketing). Thursday's events will be free of charge, while prices for Friday and Saturday are set at $ 12 per day for general admission and $7 per day for students in grades K-12. PSAC Students with current, valid ID from a member Institution will be admitted free of charge throughout the weekend, as will children under five.
Fans unable to make the trip to Shippensburg this weekend can follow all the action via
live results and a myriad of live streaming options on the
PSAC Digital Network.
West Chester heads to the PSAC Outdoor Championships on the heels of a sixth-place finish at the 2026 PSAC Indoor Championships, which was the team's best finish since a fifth-place finish at the 2018 Indoor Championships, led by an outstanding weekend by
Josh Miller (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville), which included a trio of All-Conference honors.
At the 2025 PSAC Outdoor Championships at Slippery Rock, West Chester took fifth behind a Conference crown in the discus to help the Golden Rams to a fifth-place team finish, the team's best finish at the Outdoor Championships since 2007.
"There are a lot of close battles to be won this weekend," said Leak. "Realistically, I think both programs are on the cusp of a top-five or better finish so every position in every event is going to matter this weekend."
Chase Hildebrand (Chalfont, Pa./C.B. South) will get things started for West Chester on Thursday in Shippensburg as he will compete in the Decathlon, while the duo of Miller and
Nick Forman (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) will finish things on the track on Thursday night in the 10K.
Hildebrand enters the Championships with the 11
th-best Decathlon score in the league of 5,538 from the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic, while Miller will hope to score his first All-Conference honor of the weekend in the 10K as he enters with the second-best time in the league of 29:40.03, which is not only a program record but also has him in contention for a trip the Division II Track and Field Outdoor National Championships at Emporia State later in May.
100
In the 100, West Chester has five student-athletes scheduled to compete as
Nick Tran (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley), Evan McCracken (Johnstown, Pa./Richland), AC Ross (Springfield, Va./West Springfield), Damian Simpson (Easton, Pa./Wilson), and Andre Jackson-Littlejohn (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) will all compete in the prelims on Friday. Jackson-Littlejohn is the top Golden Ram in this event entering the Championships with a time of 10.66 seconds, which ranks 12
th best in the PSAC.
Tran, Ross, and McCracken will also be in action in the 200, with McCracken leading this trio with a time of 21.85 seconds, which is 15
th-best in the league heading into the weekend.
In the 400,
David Burnshaw (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley), Terry Dweh (Darby, Pa./Penn Wood), and
Bishop Lane (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) will compete for West Chester. Lane leads this group with a time of 48.95 seconds, which is the ninth fastest in the league, followed by Burnshaw and Dweh in 49.22 and 49.30, respectively.
Billy Zane (Springfield, Pa./Springfield DELCO) is the eighth fastest in the league in the 800 and will compete for the Golden Rams in this event alongside
Jordan Barge (Lititz, Pa./Warwick).
Sam Leisenring (Downingtown,Pa./Downingtown West) will compete for West Chester in the 1500, entering the Championships with the 11
th-best time in the league of 4:00.41.
Miller and Forman will also compete for West Chester in the 5K as Miller also ranks second fastest in the league in this event with another program record time of 14:27.59.
The Golden Ram hurdlers have a busy weekend ahead, as well as
Jhaven Sims-Pagan (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) and
Ege Gunyadin (Delran, N.J./Delran), who will compete in the 110 hurdles, with Sims-Pagan leading the group in 14.88 seconds, which is seventh-best in the league. Sims-Pagan also leads West Chester in the 400 hurdles with a time of 54.65 seconds, while
Brayden Teufel (Furlong, Pa./C.B. West) and
Kevin Wickizer (Roaring Brook Township, Pa./North Pocono) are scheduled to join Sims-Pagan in this event.
Ryan Wack (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) will round out individual track events for West Chester this weekend as he will compete in the 3K Steeplechase at Shippensburg for the second weekend in a row after clocking a time of 10:19.36 at the Paul Kaiser Classic last weekend.
West Chester will also once again compete in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, entering the PSAC Championships third in both of these events with times of 41.13 and 3:15.73, respectively.
In field events,
Jake Jones (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) will compete in the pole vault with a mark of 15 feet 9 inches (4.80 meters), which saw him set a new program record at the Paul Donahue Invitational and stands as the fourth-best mark in the league.
Seth Tshudy (Phoenixville, Pa./Great Valley) will join Jones in the pole vault on Saturday afternoon.
Ronald Leraris (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnet Valley) is scheduled to compete for West Chester in the long jump, while
Xavier Campbell (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle) will compete in the triple jump.
Jacob Joslin (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) and
Thomas Smith (Wallingford, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) will compete for West Chester in the shot put, while
Collin Niedrowski (Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing) will compete in the javelin with the seventh-best mark in the league of 193-6 (58.98 m), which he set at the Danny Curran Invitational in late March.
When asked about a final message to the group, Leak said, "We have a great opportunity in front of us with where I think we stack up heading into the Championships. This weekend won't be ideal from a weather standpoint but we need to keep our energy up and the teams that can do that the best and have the most pride on the line will be successful this weekend."
The top three finishers in each event will earn All-Conference honors and a host of Major Awards, including Women's Most Outstanding Track Athlete, Women's Most Outstanding Field Athlete, Women's Most Outstanding Overall Athlete, Men's Most Outstanding Track Athlete, Men's Most Outstanding Field Athlete, and Men's Most Outstanding Overall Athlete, will all be up for grabs this weekend.
