Results
By Caleb McGaughran, GoMessiah.com reporter
Carlisle, PA - The Falcons kicked off their Indoor Track and Field Season on a strong note today at the Du Charme Invitational hosted by Dickinson College. Both teams, men and women, finished second overall behind the hosts, Dickinson.
Sophomore
Drew Engle and senior
Colin Reisler both had excellent performances in the men's pole vault event, Engle setting a new school record by eight inches.
Messiah's pole vault coach,
John Long, said that one of his goals for this season was to set two new school records in the pole vault. That goal was met today as Engle broke the previous school record of 14' 1” and then broke it twice more, setting a new record of 14' 9.”
Long said that both Engle and Reisler waited to start competing until the 14' mark was reached. Reisler initially broke the school record on his first attempt when he hit 14' 3.” Engle equaled this height soon after on his second attempt at 14' 3.” Following this, Engle hit 14' 6” on his very first attempt, while Reisler successfully vaulted the same height on his third attempt at 14' 6.” Finally, Engle set the new school record of 14' 9” on his third attempt at that height.
Engle also attempted to vault 15.' He completed three attempts, but was unable to clear that height.
In other news, the men's team had a good day in the shot put event. Sophomore
Trevor Stutzman placed first overall in the event, with a personal best throw of 16 m (52' 6”). Stutzman was followed in second by sophomore
Fred Fulton with a throw of 15.46 m (50' 8.75”). In regard to his performance, Stutzman said he was surprised, but pleased, to have thrown so well.
“I definitely wasn't expecting it,” Stutzman said. “But it was a great way to start off the season.”
Both the men's and women's teams also had several excellent performances in the sprinting events. Junior
Liz Martin placed first in the finals for the 55 m hurdles with a time of 8.94 seconds. Martin also grabbed the first place spot in the women's 55 m dash finals, running in 7.61 seconds
Sophomore
Nicholas White placed second in the preliminaries for the men's 55 m hurdles, but finished first in the finals. White completed the event with a personal best time of 7.89, which he said dropped more than half a second from his previous personal record.
In addition, several Messiah men and women performed well in a variety of distance events. Junior Jennifer Bender seized first place in the women's 5,000 meter race, with sophomore
Alyssa Doll following her in third. Doll's time of 21:22.52 was one of her best collegiate times.
Sophomore
Jonphilip McGill had an excellent race in the men's 1,000 race, placing second with a time of 2:44.97.
Freshman
Jacquelyn Young also performed well for the team, grabbing the first place spot in the women's one mile run with a time of 5:41.75.
Today's competition was exciting for the Falcons, as they were able to see several returners, as well as some freshmen, perform very well. The team will not compete in an organized meet until students return back to Messiah for January term. In the meantime, the student-athletes will continue their training while they prepare with the rest of the school for finals week and Christmas break.
