Results
with Caleb McGaughran, GoMessiah.com reporter
Millersville, PA - The Falcons had another spectacular day today, as the team collected several new personal records, as well as new school record by Fred Fulton in the men's hammer throw.
Fulton placed third overall in the hammer throw, with a school record-breaking throw of 51.83m (170'). According to coach Dale Fogelsanger, Fulton's throw was nearly ten feet more than his previous school record in the hammer throw.
In other throwing news, Matt Leber threw well in the javelin, placing second in his flight at 38.14m (125' 1”). Messiah alumnus and javelin coach, AJ Smith, also had a good day, as he threw for S.W.I.F.T. racing. Smith placed sixth overall in the men's javelin with a throw of 55.37m (181' 8”).
On the women's side Kira Maier also had two good performances in the throwing events. Maier placed tenth in both the women's hammer throw and the women's shot put with throws of 40.79m (133' 10”) and 10.64m (34' 11”) respectively.
In addition, Alyssa Mills also had a good day in her throwing events, setting a new personal record in the women's javelin. According to Coach Fogelsanger, Mills' throw was also about ten feet more than her previous personal record.
As for Messiah's track events, two Messiah athletes had outstanding races in the men's 5,000 meter race. John Ausel fought his way through a tight pack in his race and finished fourth overall in the event with a new personal best of 15:43.11. Nathan Fleming also ran very well in the 5,000 meter run, setting a substantial personal record of 16:16.52, which placed him just shy of qualifying for the MAC Championship.
In other news for the men, Joel Zeigler also set an excellent personal record in the 3,000 meter steeple chase. Zeigler finished at 10:59.16, only nine seconds short of qualifying for the MAC Championships.
Three Messiah women also had a good day in the distance events including a new personal record set by Alyssa Doll in the 5,000 meter run of 20:57.37. Jenny Bove and Susannah Marshall raced very well in the 10,000 meter run, Marshall achieving a personal best of 44:19.15. Bove also had an excellent race, finishing with a time of 42:45.76 in her very first 10,000.
The Messiah men also had a number of good performances in the 1500 and 800 meter runs. Cameron Shirk had a very respectable race in the second-fastest heat of the men's 1500 meter race, finishing with a time of 4:12.76. Jonphillip McGill raced well in the third heat of the 1500 meter race, finishing second in his heat at 4:21.26. In addition, two Messiah alumni, Caleb Liddick and Andrew Springer, raced in the fourth heat of the 1500 meter race for S.W.I.F.T racing. Liddick (2011) won the heat with a time of 4:24.62.
In the 800 meter run, Christopher Scheib forged ahead in a tough race and placed third in the second heat with a time of 2:01.49. Abram Albert had a stupendous day in the 800 meter run, setting a personal record of 2:04.65 with a fourth place finish in his heat. Edward Bley also had a good race, finishing second in his heat at 2:07.98.
On the women's side, Tasha Becker ran very well in the 1500 meter run, placing fifth in the second heat at 5:17.21. Victoria Scrima and Natasha Henderson performed well in their heat, placing first and second respectively in the heat (5:31.19, 5:35.6). Brenda Flaherty also ran well, placing first out of the Messiah women in the 1500, claiming 14th overall 5:16.32.
The Messiah men and women also had two outstanding performances in the 400 meter hurdles. Liz Martin finished first overall in the event, crossing the finish line at 1:03.74. Trevor Praetsch had an extremely good race, finishing second overall with a time of 55.65 seconds. Praetsch's time was not only a new personal best, but also landed him on Messiah's top ten list for the 400 meter hurdles.
Today's competition at Millersville was challenging for the Falcons, as they competed at a Division II school against both Division III and Division II schools. Nevertheless the team, as has been their pattern for this entire season, performed very well and had something to show to their competitors. It is exciting for the team to continue to see new school and personal records set at each meet, and it will be exciting to see what the team can do in the next few weeks as they look towards the MAC Championship. The Falcons will get to perform on their own turf next weekend, as competing teams come to the college for the Messiah Invitational on April 11-13.
