Three to Compete at NCAA Outdoor Championships

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's track and field team will send a trio of athletes to the NCAA Division III Championships beginning on Wednesday held at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Samuel Hetrick (New Bethlehem, PA/Redbank Valley), Braeden Smith (Erie, PA/Seneca) and Dan Dabrowski (Harborcreek, PA/Harborcreek) will each compete on Thursday after qualifying for their respective events. On Thursday, Dabrowski will take part in discus at 10:30 a.m. as Hetrick and Smith will compete in the high jump at 2 p.m. on Friday.

Hetrick enters the event tied for third in the nation with a mark of 2.08m that he logged during the Behrend Invitational on April 24. Hetrick previously appeared in the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this semester along side Smith. This is the first outdoor championship of Hetricks career as Smith heads into his third NCAA outdoor event. Smith was an NCAA All-American the last two years and finished third in the high jump finals in 2021 and enters this year tied for eighth in NCAA Division III.  

For Dabrowski, he will make his first NCAA Championship appearance this week after registering a career-best 50.92m during the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) Championship for a third-place finish. On April 24, Dabrowski broke Mitchell Obenrader's Penn State Behrend record of 48.76m with a toss of 48.81m. Dabrowksi closed the season by registering higher marks on three different occasions, resulting with his career best at the AARTFC meet. Dabrowski will enter at No. 13 this weekend.