The annual Shippensburg University High School Invitational was held on Saturday, April 15, 2006.
This gives athletes from a wide area of central Pennsylvania, the opportunity to line up against some of the best in the state at their events, on the same venue where the PIAA state track and field championships will take place later in the spring.
In class AA, the Bellwood-Antis boys finished fifth at the Shippensburg Invitational with several strong showings that contributed to the Blue Devils high finish. Bellwood-Antis had a total of 13 seeds for the meet, including nine in the top 10 seeds in the individual events, and seven in the top six.
B-A junior Brandon Pruznak finished second in the long jump, with a leap of 20-3, fourth in the 200 meter dash (23.68) and seventh in the 400 (53.46). Brandon Humphreys was fourth in the long jump (20-2). Tony DelGrosso was third in the shot put (44-8 3/4), fourth in the discus (140-1) and ninth in the javelin (152-5). Ben Hatch was sixth in both the 400 (52.24) and 800 meter (2:03.18) races. The 1600 relay team of Humphreys, Dustin Harris, Hatch and Pruznak finished in third place (3:37.76). Dustin Harris was 15th in the javelin (138-6).
Only the top six finishers in each of the 19 events earned points. The regular 18 events that compose a dual meet were run, and a steeplechase was added as well.
There were a total of 34 Class-AA high schools that participated in the Invitational. Kutztown claimed the Class-AA title, with 46 points, edging Danville which finished with 45 points and Greencastle-Antrim with 43. Tamaqua was fourth with 36 and Bellwood-Antis completed the top five with 34 points. Bald Eagle Area finished in eighth place, and Penns Valley did not score. Bedford, which defeated the B-A boys in the season-opening dual for both teams finished in 18th place with 11 points. The Bisons’ Josh Lightner was third in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles, teammate Tyler Bollman was fourth in the steeplechase, and the Bedford 3200 relay team finished sixth.
In Class-AAA, Rachel Gehret claimed first place finishes in three events (high jump, long jump and triple jump) to lead Altoona to second place finish. Cedar Cliff won the girls Triple-A championship with 78 points and Allentown Allen was third with 38 points. Altoona finished with 50 points and Shippensburg area schools Big Spring and Carlisle tied with 34 points to round out the top five.
Hollidaysburg senior Jenn McConnell won the Class-AAA shot put and was third in the discus.
Susan Yuhas of Northern Cambria, won the girls Class-AA javelin, by better than 10 feet over her nearest competitor. Lauren Penska of Northern Cambria was fourth in the 400 dash, and Elizabeth Thomas was sixth in the discus.
