by Matt Logan, GoMessiah.com reporter
Grantham, PA – The Messiah College men's country team is back from the summer off, ready for another fall season. They will open competition this Thursday, Sept. 1 when they travel to nearby Dickinson College to compete in the Dickinson Light up the Night Invitational. The men are coming off of a runner-up finish in the MAC Championships and will look to earn their second MAC Championship in program history.
See below for a snapshot preview of the Falcons in 2016.
Schedule
After traveling to Dickinson, the Falcons will compete in six other meets, including the Messiah Invitational held at Starry Athletic Complex on Sept. 24. The men will be back at home once again to host this year's MAC Championships on Oct. 29. The last time Messiah hosted the MAC Championships was in 2011, which was also the last year Messiah hosted multiple meets.
Six Numbers to Know for the 2016 Season
2 – Runner-up finishes at the MAC Championships in the last two years. The men will look to break that plateau and earn their first MAC Championship since 2008 (and their second in program history) when they host the Championship meet on Oct. 29.
2 – Total MAC honors held by 2016 team members. The loss of the 2015 seniors is surely felt here, as Sophomore
Benjamin Schott and Junior
Kaleb Burch are the only returners who hold MAC honors. Both Burch and Schott earned Second Team honors at the 2015 MAC Championships, placing 13th and 15th, respectively.
7 – Seniors that graduated this past May. This was the largest graduating class the men's team has seen since 2011. Ironically, the Falcons have brought in 7 first-year student-athletes to replenish their roster. Head coach
Dale Fogelsanger will look to have the same success reloading the roster as he did after the successful 2011 campaign, a class that included 2015 seniors
Phil Headland,
Christopher Scheib,
Cameron Shirk, and NCAA National Championship qualifier
Jared Schatz.
13 – Top ten 2015 race finishes Messiah will have to make up for in 2016. The Falcons' 2015 senior class put up the most top-ten finishes since the 2011 season, which saw a remarkable 20 top ten race finishes by graduating seniors. That 2011 season included MAC 100 Century Team honoree Tyler Newhook, Messiah's most recent individual MAC Champion (2009).
23 – Seasons under the leadership of head coach
Dale Fogelsanger. In his time at Messiah, "Coach Foge" has coached the men's team to one MAC Championship (2008) and three individual MAC champions (Frank Eanes, 2007 and 2008; Tyler Newhook, 2009).
