Millersville track and field going for a repeat at PSAC Outdoor Championships

Thursday, May 11

Slippery Rock, PA

Millersville University

PSAC Championships

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Millersville track and field going for a repeat at PSAC Outdoor Championships

5/10/2023 9:44:00 AM | Women's Outdoor Track and Field

Championship Central PSAC Site Tickets Accepted Entries

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - One year ago, Millersville outdoor track and field celebrated its first PSAC Championship in 16 years on its home track. The Marauders now take their largest roster ever to Slippery Rock with eyes on a repeat performance.

Millersville scored 113 points in the 2022, edging Slippery Rock (93.3) and Shippensburg (87). The top contending teams are the same, and this time, it is The Rock that has the benefit of competing in familiar surroundings. The Marauders are hardly strangers to contention, however. In the last eight outdoor championships, Millersville has finished as the champ once, runner-up twice and third-place finisher three times, scoring over 90 points on five occasions. Head coach Andy Young's team qualified 30 athletes, which is an impressive total considering that last year's title-winning team qualified 19.

"One of the things we pride ourselves on is that we show up well at conference championships," said Young. "This team has that same attitude. Obviously, we have to show up this weekend, and we'll see what happens. We'll be ready to compete."

Hannah Woelfling is the two-time defending champion in the hammer throw and the return discus champ. Darian Hauf won the pole vault as a freshman in 2022. Both athletes return ranked No. 1 in their respective events entering the championships. They aren't Millersville's only top contenders. Maddy Downs sits in the No. 2 spot behind Woelfling in the discus. Aubrey Sydnor and Shelby Derkosh also rank one-two in the 400-meter dash. De'Asia Holloman is second in the 100-meter hurdles, and Abbey Sullivan is ranked third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

"You are talking centimeters and split seconds between the top kids in this conference," said Young. "We saw that last year with De'Asia was one of the top in the conference last year and finished fourth or fifth, and it was just really close. This year, she won by a hundredth of a second in the indoor. Nothing is given to you. You have to earn everything you get."

But Young and assistant coaches Akil Stokes and Brittany Hartman have not been shy about discussing the potential of winning another championship with their team. While point calculations based on seeding have the Marauders pegged third behind Slippery Rock and Shippensburg, the coaches tailor the athlete's workouts and peak for this three-day stretch.

"We did talk about it," said Young. "We are proud that we won last year. We've been working toward competing well again. Our focus is always spending time on putting ourselves into the best position to do the best for ourselves. We still slightly have a chip on our shoulder because I don't think everyone believed that we should have won last year, and it was close. I know there are teams out there who really believe they will take us down this year, and that's good, because it keeps us all competitive."

Woelfling, the reigning PSAC Outdoor Championships Most Valuable Athlete, is looking to carrying on Millersville's strong throwing legacy that started with Vanessa Hower and Ann Kovacs finishing one-two in 2015. Since then, Millersville has won seven consecutive hammer titles and 28 top-three finishes in the four throwing events. Earlier this season, Woelfling broke former Marauder Sunflower Greene's all-time PSAC record in the hammer with a toss of 200-5. Woelfling ranks third in the nation in the event. She is also seventh in Division II in the discus after hitting 161-1 at the Millersville Metrics. Woelfling could potentially finish All-PSAC in the shot put for the first time as well. She is seeded fourth.

"Our throws legacy is very good," said Young. "We've had multiple athletes make All-America. [Hannah] is no stranger to it. She's the two-time defending conference champion. She wants to finish on a strong note as she graduated. We are excited to see how the discus goes because she's been hitting some big (marks), and she hit her biggest at the conference meet last year. She'll be ready to go again."

Downs, a sophomore, qualified in the discus, hammer and shot put, and she's in position for her first career All-PSAC honor with a season-best mark of 139-2. Freshman Sarah Hessler is seeded 10th in the shot put and seventh in the discus. Freshman Seya Trujillo is 10th in the discus, 13th in the shot put and ninth in the hammer. Junior Cassie Sharrow should also provide the Marauders some points in the hammer as she is seeded fourth.

Hauf became Millersville's first-ever pole vault champ in 2022, and she has only improved since. Her 12-11 1/2 mark at the Bison Classic in April reset her school record, ranks her as the No. 1 seed and 18th in Division II. Slippery Rock's Kendall Grossman, who edged Hauf for the PSAC indoor title in February, is seeded No. 2 with a season-best mark of 12-7 1/4.

"Indoors lit a little fire under [Darian]," said Young. "She was struggling with some physical things at that point and certainly was disappointed with that result. Darian is super competitive. She's excited to get out there and show that she can defend. Her bigger goal is that she's 18th in the country. She wants to do well at PSACs but wants to improve her marks so she gets selected (to the NCAA Championships) this year."

Megan Malecki will also compete in the pole vault. She is seeded ninth.

In other field events, Madison Stebila and Lauren Festa qualified for the high jump. Sharrow, Kandice Liebl and Mikaela Wolf will compete in the javelin throw, and Sabela Zablackis gives Millersville a heptathlete.

On the track, Stokes' spring group is led by Sydnor, who was the PSAC runner-up in the 400 as a freshman and placed fourth at this year's indoor championships. She ran the second-fastest time in the PSAC this season, but Cal U standout Divonne Franklin is not slated to run the 400 this weekend. Sydnor is the only other PSAC runner to crack 57 seconds this year, posting a 56.17, and that is close to the NCAA provisional mark of 56.0. Derkosh, a freshman, has made significant strides since the start of the outdoor season, lower her time from 58.84 at the Millersville Metrics on April to 57.33 at the Paul Kaiser Classic on April 29.

"Aubrey has a great shot at hitting an NCAA time if she runs a great race," said Young. "Right on her heels is Shelby. She found her confidence, found her groove in the last five-six weeks. It's been to see her come along."

Mia Carson, Mary Weis and Claire Coons also qualified in the 400-meter dash.

Holloman has scored big in the 60-meter hurdles and the indoor championships, winning the race in 2023. But she is running for her first top-three finish in the 100-meter hurdles. Holloman's 14.47 time is seeded second behind Shippensburg's Sasha Lee (14.16). Joining Holloman in the 100 hurdles field are Sabela Zablackis and freshman Lillian LaBure. Cora Heilman Millersville's lone qualifier in the 400-meter hurdles as a freshman with a time of 1:07.47.

Millersville also qualified Emma Elwell, Aurora Conrad and Arianna Kouakou in the 100 and 200. Heather Lesinski qualified in the 100. That depth makes Millersville's relay teams dangerous. Millersville's 4x400-meter relay team has finished first or second in each year since 2016. The 4x100 relay finished runner-up in 2019 and 2021 and placed third in 2022. The Marauders will be in that mix again with the 4x100 seeded third, just a half-second out of the No. 2 spot, and the 4x400 is fourth, a half-second out of third.

In the distance events, Abbey Sullivan's season-best time of 2:18.78 has her seeded sixth in the 800, and she'll be in the mix for an All-PSAC finish in the steeplechase with her time of 11:29. Millersville hasn't produced an All-PSAC finisher in the steeplechase sine Abigail Daley won it in 2015. Morgan Janiuk is seeded in three events--sixth in the 10,000-meter run, seventh in the 1,500-meter run, and 16th in the 5,000 meter run. Kaitlyn Leister and Kaycee McCullough also qualified in the 10K, Hannah Sweda is in the 5K, an Samantha Foster joins Sullivan in the steeplechase.

Competition begins Thursday at 11 a.m., with the heptathlon. The women's hammer throw is scheduled for 3:30 p.m., and the 10K is set for 8:45 p.m.

Fans can follow the live results or watch live video of select events. A broadcast schedule is available here.