MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – The 2013-14 athletic season saw a slew of Penn State Harrisburg student-athletes turn in unforgettable and even record breaking individual performances.  Some players' efforts, like those of Colton Houseal (Maytown, Pa. / Donegal) and Gabby Wolfe (New Milford, Pa. / Blue Ridge), had been years in the making.  For others, like Will Doyle (Franklin, Va. / Tidewater Academy) and Rachel Shetler (Pequea, Pa. / Penn Manor), we knew it was only a matter of time before they broke out in a big way. 

One young man, however, had no track record of which to judge.  For a freshman golfer from down the road in Palmyra, there were no expectations.  Yet, in just a matter of months, Tyler Shank (Palmyra, Pa. / Palmyra Area) began raising his own bar and setting his own standards.  Early on, he started showing up on tournaments' lists of top 20 finishers.  It wasn't long until he finished as Penn State Harrisburg's low man on multiple occasions.  And then he pulled off his greatest accomplishment.

He straight up won the Gettysburg Invitational. 

On Mar. 22, Shank bested 62 other golfers to capture the top spot at Gettysburg's 2014 Spring Invitational held at the Bridges Golf Club in Abbottstown, Pa.  He finished the round with a +4, 76 and used the third handicap hole to separate himself from four other participants with the same score and secure the individual championship.  His solo win was the team's only individual tournament victory of the season.

Shank held off Dickinson's Chris Noonan and McDaniel's trio of Mike Filler, Alex Kane and Steven Tanen during the invitational's handicap portion en route to his first collegiate individual title.  His effort led the Lions to fifth place overall team finish; good enough to best the host school, Moravian, DeSales and Elizabethtown on the day.  Individually, Shank held competitors from the likes of York (Pa.) and Gettysburg's "B" squad at bay as well. 

At the time, Shank's Gettysburg win was the seemingly unmatchable highpoint of his freshman campaign.  Instead, it simply proved to be his coming out party. 

At the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Championship held at Dauphin Highlands Golf Club on Apr. 18-19, Shank capped off his extraordinary year with what might have been an even more impressive performance than his Gettysburg title.  Shooting a +2, 74 on day one and a +3, 75 during the final round, he finished tied for second place overall with York's (Pa.) Kevin Long, just three shots off the championship score of Christopher Newport's Jonathan Howard.

His individual runner-up performance helped lead Penn State Harrisburg to a team runner-up finish in the program's first year of CAC competition.  Newport won the conference title but the Lions made the Captains earn it.

As for Shank, his stellar two days earned him a spot on the CAC All-Conference First-Team; the first Penn State Harrisburg student-athlete of any kind to earn that honor.  He was also named the CAC's Newcomer of the Year.

We're almost there.  Be sure to check back later as we conclude our countdown of Penn State Harrisburg's top ten moments of the 2013-14 season.  One of our teams did something this year that just about no one thought they could.  It took a little longer than usual but it was well worth the extra wait…