Ursinus Open Results - Lafayette-Rider Winter Games Results
By Andrew Springer, GoMessiah.com reporter
Collegeville, PA/New York City, NY — After being unable to compete the previous weekend due to unsafe travel conditions, the Messiah track and field program got right back to work at the Ursinus College Open on Thursday night and the Lafayette-Rider Winter Games on Friday.
A majority of the Falcons competed Thursday at the Ursinus College Open in Collegeville, Pa. Messiah's women took second overall with 122.5 points, while the men's team managed to finish third overall with 110 points.
There were a number of standout performances for the women Thursday night, including sophomore Rachel Bjorkman, who won the long jump while competing in three other events as well. Freshman Kaitlyn Hoover also had a busy evening, competing in five different events, finishing fourth in the 55-meter hurdles (9.66) as well as helping Messiah to a third-place finish in the 4 x 400-meter relay (4:41.26).
“Yeah, that was a fun race, although I didn't know I was racing until about 10 minutes beforehand,” Hoover said of her participation in the relay.
Messiah head coach Dale Fogelsanger later explained the squad needed her to step in for a teammate at the last second, and if not for her willingness, they would not have been able to run the event.
In the distance events, freshman Jennifer Bender (20:18.42) and senior Christal Liaw (20:35.86) finished third and fifth, respectively, in the 5,000-meter run. Junior Brooke Airey won the mile (5:37.24) and freshman Vicki Hepp wasn't too far behind at third overall (5:57.35).
“I felt pretty good most of the race, although I slowed a little too much at the end,” Airey said. “But a lot of freshman stepped up today, which was good to see.”
In the sprints, sophomore Courtney Grammar had a number of strong performances, including a fifth-place finish in the 55-meter dash (7.98) and a seventh-place finish in the 200-meter dash (28.78), serving as part of the 4 x 200-meter relay which finished second overall (2:00.72).
“Today was a pretty good day for both myself and our team,” Grammar said. “Now we just need to take care of the details these next two weeks and the results will come at (the) conference (championships).”
On the men's side, Messiah dominated the pole vault. Sophomore Colin Resiler won the event with a vault of 4.10 meters (13 feet, 5 and ¼ inches), a career best in the indoor pole vault for Colin. Juniors Richard Pennisi (11 feet, 11 and ¾ inches) and Chris Vasaturo (11 feet , 5 and ¾ inches) finished second and fourth respectively, giving messiah three of the top four spots in the event.
After having the win secured, Reisler attempted to break the school record of 14 feet in the indoor vault by jumping 14 feet, 2 inches. On his final attempt, Reisler appeared to have it, but just nicked the bar as he went over. Had the bar been set an inch lower, Reisler name would've most likely been in the record books.
“My technique has improved a lot,” Reisler said. “I've just been trying to take care of all the little details and I've begun to see the difference.”
Freshman Tim Hampton stepped up for the Falcons in the long and triple jumps, managing to finish second in the triple with a jump of 11.96 meters (39 feet, 3 inches). In the 400-meter dash, sophomore Aaron Reynolds (:53.19) and Austin Craven (:54.42) finished third and sixth, respectively.
“That 400-(meter race) felt really good,” Reynolds said. “I feel like I'm finally where I want to be, in terms of fitness.”
In the mile, junior Caleb Liddick took third overall (4:40.79), while in the 800-meter run junior Scott Woolford (2:03.77) and freshman Trevor Praetsch (2:04.57) placed third and fourth, respectively. Woolford and Praetsch were not done yet, as they had just 30 minutes to recover from their races to join Liddick and junior Craig Hutcheson in running the 4 x 800-meter relay. Together, they managed to win the event with a time of 8:42.93.
Junior Matthew Herring (16:03.61) led the falcons in the 5,000-meter run with a third-place finish in the event. The Falcons also managed to qualify another individual in the 5,000 for the upcoming MAC Championships, upping Messiah's total number of qualifiers to seven.
But the amazing performances didn't stop there, as a select few traveled to New York City to compete at the 2011 Lafayette-Rider Winter Games at the New York Armory Friday. Freshman Liz Martin ran in the 60-meter hurdles, recording a time of :09.33, a personal best in the event. Later in the 200-meter race, junior Katie Craven led the Falcons with a :26.47, followed closely by Martin (:26.5) and freshman Amber Stephan (:27.59).
In the 800-meter run, junior Tyler Newhook won his race by almost two seconds, running a 1:53.39 — the 11th fastest time in the event this season nationwide. Meanwhile, senior Grace Kaste also won the 800-meter run comfortably in a time of 2:21.58, just two seconds shy of her own school record.
To cap off a thrilling weekend for the Falcons, the women (Craven, Martin, Stephan, and Kaste) also won their heat in the 4 x 400-meter relay, finishing second overall with a time of 4:04.34. The time crushed the old school record of 4:10.59 set back in 2006 by Spadaro, Weaner, Mason and Hepkins.
Messiah has just one indoor meet remaining at the Susquehanna Open in Selinsgrove, Pa. on Saturday, Feb. 19, with events slated to start at 10 a.m. After that, the Falcons will be just one week away from the 2011 Middle Atlantic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, held at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. on Feb. 26.
