When Kanye Thompson took his lane at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium for the 100-meter dash finals of the 2022 PIAA track and field championships, a nightmare scenario unfolded for the then McKeesport senior.
“I ended up false starting,” said Thompson, now a member of the Slippery Rock University track and field team, of the disqualification that ended his only bid for a PIAA title. “I just knew I needed to get back and put something up that would make everybody turn their head.”
Thompson did just that over the weekend.
The Slippery Rock sophomore won a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship in the 100-meter dash Sunday with a time of 10.27 seconds.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “I still can’t believe it. It’s no better story than that. Oh my goodness, [the PIAA championship race] was harping on me for such a long time. At the PSAC championships last year, I came in third place. I’m like, ‘I’ve got to get it done here. This is all in God’s hands.’ I just gave it to God.”
Thompson’s run for gold in Shippensburg broke Slippery Rock’s previous school record of 10.29 seconds set by Brad Mueller in 2008 and was just shy of topping the PSAC standard of 10.26 seconds, which was set by Millersville sprinter Gerald Mack in 1996.
“He’s always had that kind of speed,” Slippery Rock coach Bill Jordan said. “We watched him in high school videos literally fall out of the blocks and still beat people. He was incredible. We’ve always known he has tremendous speed.”
Aside from earning a PSAC title, Thompson’s run also put him in a very strong position to qualify for the NCAA Division II championships.
Thompson’s personal-best run from over the weekend is currently the 10th-fastest Division II time in the nation.
“When you put him in the blocks beside somebody else, he’s just relentless,” said Jordan of Thompson, who also is a defensive back on Slippery Rock’s football team. “He’s not going to give up. He’s able to elevate to a different level every time. No matter what the competition beside him is, he’s going to elevate and go get it done. That’s just the type of kid he is.”
The NCAA Division II outdoor track and field championship meet will be held May 23-25 at Welch Stadium in Emporia, Kan.
Jordan said the sprinters with the top 18-20 times will qualify to compete for a national championship in the 100-meter dash.
“I believe he’ll get into nationals with where he’s sitting,” Jordan said. “To give him competition at the national level, I’m sure he’ll elevate up there again. I’m hopeful he will break the all-time conference record at the national meet.”
Thompson also won a PSAC championship Sunday as a member of Slippery Rock’s 400-meter relay team. He ran the first leg of the event along with AJ Virata, Matthew Crow and freshman Jacob Thompson, a Mars graduate.
“I’m not super cocky or anything, I just feel like it’s the confidence, I always tell myself I can do it,” said Thompson, who also won a PSAC championship as a freshman member of the Rock’s 400-meter relay team a year ago. “I know I can do it. I don’t feel like no stage is too big for me or no moment is too bright or no light is too bright. I always tell myself I got it. I know I can do it.
“If you put the work in,” he added, “it’s going to come out.”
And now Thompson is turning his attention to training for a likely first trip to the national championship meet.
“First, I’m going to break the PSAC record,” he said. “I need the PSAC record. I feel like I want to become an All-American. I’m going to speak it into existence now. I’m going to be a national All-American.”
Jordan said his goal for Thompson is the same.
“There’s some really fast kids in Division II,” he said. “It’s going to be some stout competition for him. It’s going to be competition that he hasn’t seen quite yet, which is a good thing. He’ll experience that, and I’m sure he can elevate to the occasion. I think the sky is the limit for him.”
WPIAL athletes win PSAC gold
Men
Shippensburg junior Robbie Hrabosky, an Elizabeth Forward graduate, won his first PSAC outdoor championship in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.85 seconds.
Hrabosky previously won PSAC indoor championships in 2023 and 2022 in the distance medley relay.
Women
Slippery Rock senior Anna Igims, an Avonworth graduate, was voted Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the PSAC championships by the conference’s coaches after winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5,000-meter run events.
Igims won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in dominant fashion, posting a time of 10:52.08, which was more than 30 seconds faster than Kutztown’s Sophia Kerr, who finished in 11:24.46. The Rock distance runner won the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:43.23.
“That’s another girl that just rises to the occasion when the moment counts,” Jordan said. “The steeple, in all honesty, she just ran away with it. In the 5K as well, she just ran away with those two events.”
Slippery Rock’s women’s team took second in the event with Igims contributing 28 points to to the Rock’s total of 159 points. She finished second in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:35.08, which was just behind Edinboro senior Kylie Anicic, who finished in 4:29.02.
Igims is also in the running for a spot in the NCAA championship meet. She set the Slippery Rock record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase earlier in the season at Bucknell with a time of 10:34.38, which is the 17th-best time in the nation.
“Anna has come so far in the past couple of years,” Jordan said. “She just works so hard.”
Slippery Rock graduate student Sarah Corrie, a Gateway graduate, won her fourth PSAC championship in the shot put. She has won consecutive outdoor titles and also owns two conference indoor championships in shot put.
Corrie’s gold-medal throw of 48 feet, 4 inches was more than 4 feet farther than second-place finisher Slippery Rock sophomore Rebecca Martin, who threw the shot 43-10¾. She currently has the 21st farthest throw in the country.
“Sarah is a great competitor,” Jordan said. “She’s got more in her. I’ve watched her throw [more than 49 feet] before. She just works really hard. She’s one of the hardest working girls I’ve ever met. She’s in the weight room all day long just getting stronger.
“She’s built herself up over the years into something really special,” he added. “We’re hoping she’ll get into the national meet as well.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.