Day 1 Results - Day 2 Results - Day 3 Results - Complete Results
Delaware, OH — Messiah's track and field program continues to send athletes to national championship meets.
And there, the program continues to impress.
Sophomore Hillary Pelkey finished third in the women's javelin throw and junior Tyler Newhook claimed seventh in the men's 800-meter run Saturday at Ohio Wesleyan University's Selby Field and George Gauthier Track, earning the Falcons a pair of All-American honors Saturday at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
“It was another great day for us,” said Dale Fogelsanger, Messiah head coach. “To have two All-Americans is great, but when you consider how we entered this meet, it's really incredible. We couldn't be happier.”
Messiah took three athletes to the weekend's championship meet in central Ohio (senior Jared High was the other in the men's javelin throw), and all three arrived on the proverbial bubble: Pelkey entered as the final seed in the 23-athlete women's javelin field, while Newhook turned his initial 16 seed in the 800-meters into finalist material after advancing from Friday's prelims with a lifetime personal best 1:51.36.
Pelkey stole Saturday's show by throwing a lifetime best 42.94 meters, blowing away her qualifying toss of 41 meters — a mark that wasn't good enough to qualify her for the national championships until another athlete withdrew Tuesday.
The late invite didn't deter the Lincoln, Maine native, however, as Pelkey delivered the best throw of her young career after fouling on her first attempt and delivering a measurement of 39.16 meters on her second.
“(On her third throw), she kept her cool and finessed it,” Fogelsanger said. “She kept fighting in a very balanced field. If you took one step, that was the difference from second place to ninth place.”
Just over a full meter was the spread between those places, as after Carleton College's Kelly Lovett won the event with a toss of 47.36 meters, Mount Union College's Aubree Jones finished second with a toss of 42.98 meters. DePauw University's Courtney Lauer took ninth with an effort of 41.84 meters.
Pelkey's best throw bested the University of Rutgers-Newark's Mercedes Glover's sling of 42.45 meters, giving the sophomore her first All-American honor in her initial championship meet experience.
“To go from almost not getting in to being an All-American is pretty neat,” Fogelsanger said. “Everybody at this point is good. But you have to perform here. It's a clean slate and Hillary really performed well.”
Newhook did, too, though his Saturday time of 1:54.18 was well of his record-setting pace in Friday's preliminary heat. The field went out slow in the championship event, and — after leading his heat from the start in Friday's prelims — Newhook elected to bide his time Saturday.
“The 800 is a very tactical race, and every time you run it you learn to adapt differently,” Fogelsanger said. “But just like every event here, you're talking about eight guys who are very, very good. If you ran this again Monday, Tyler maybe finishes in the top three. But he and I were both very pleased with his performance. He ran very well.”
Fredonia State University's Nick Guarino won the national championship in a time of 1:49.89, complementing his top time in Friday's prelims.
Newhook's seventh-place finish gave him his second All-American honor of his junior year, joining his third-place finish in the same race at the 2011 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships.
“We're very satisfied with how Tyler competed both today and yesterday,” Fogelsanger said. “He has a lot to be proud of.”
High also had plenty to be proud of, qualifying for the national championships on what very well could have been his last javelin throw as a collegian – posting a lifetime-best mark by nearly 14 feet at this year's MAC Championships.
And while a nagging elbow ailment prevented High from duplicating his season-best mark 197 feet, 11 inches — he threw 179 feet, 2 inches to finish 16th Saturday — Fogelsanger said he was all smiles as he, too, improved his seed by two spots.
“This was his Cinderella story,” Fogelsanger said. “He soaked up the national championship experience with smiles. It was great for him to get here and compete against the best. He'll always remember this.”
Nearly 20 of Pelkey's, Newhook's and High's teammates came out to support the group over the weekend. Pelkey's third-place finish (six points) helped Messiah finish tied for 37th place in the women's standings; Newhook's performance (two points) gave the Falcons a 69th-place result on the men's side.
North Central College won the men's team championship with 58 total points. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh claimed the women's crown with 80 points.
“It really was an amazing day for us,” Fogelsanger said. “We had a great following out here, and we had some great performances. We'll head back to Grantham very pleased.”
