Results
by Joel Zeigler, GoMessiah.com reporter
Collegeville, PA - Messiah College men's track and field took first place at the Frank Colden Invitational at Ursinus College on Saturday, scoring 103 points-- more than 30 points ahead of the next finisher. The women took second place, scoring 82.5 points to edge rival Lebanon Valley by 4.5 points, and losing only to Delaware (Division I).
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As has been the case recently, the Falcons excelled in pole vault.
Rachel Robison set a new college best on her way to a victory at 3.35 meters (10'11.75").
Tim Moses won the men's vault with a 4.60m (15'1") effort.
Brandon Stearns experienced a great season debut for the team, achieving a new lifetime personal record vault of 3.96m (12'11.75").
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The jumps also gave Messiah success.
Marie Johnson qualified for the conference championships in the triple jump with her 10.21m (33'6") performance, good enough for third. "With Marie's jump today," Coach
Jason Brown remarked, "Messiah now hold positions two, three and five in the conference in the triple jump. This gives the girls confidence and sets us up well for indoor MACs."
Josiah Haws leaped 11.82m (38'9.5") to finish sixth in the men's triple jump.
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In the women's high jump, the Falcons took second (
Marie Johnson) and tied for third (
Hadlee Coker).
Alyssa Mills,
Rebecca Querfeld and
Brooke Maneval all cleared the exact MAC qualification height (4'6").
Aaron Powell finished fifth for the men. Freshman
Kaitlyn Hostetler bettered her long jump PR by one centimeter and finished fourth with a 4.92m (16'1.75").
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A few Messiah distance runners punched their tickets to the conference meet in their races. In the 5000 meters,
Alissa Rogers threw down a 19:21 despite running solo for the entire race.
Emma Barbagallo narrowly also qualified with her 20:29.
Nathan Fleming beat the clock to attain the men's standard by running 16:27.
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Phil Headland set a new indoor mile PR with a 4:39.85. As for the women's mile,
Jacquelyn Young (5:47),
Victoria Scrima (5:53), and
Gabrielle Rekully (5:57) qualified for the conference championships.
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The Falcons showed up in force in middle distances as well. The men scored in the 800, with great performances from sophomore
Cameron Shirk (second, indoor PR, 2:01.00) and
Jonphilip McGill (third, 2:02.15), and in the 400, thanks to
Alex Yoder (51.84) and senior
Trevor Praetsch (52.57). Also,
Max Whitehead debuted in the 400 just a tenth of a second away from MAC qualification (54.84).
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Julie Heisey took third in the 800 with another stunning performance, finishing in 2:23.30.
Emily Senning placed sixth in the 400 with an indoor-fastest time of 1:03.90.
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The Messiah men took home a first place in the 4x400 relay, as a team comprised of
Nicholas White,
Jonphilip McGill,
Braden Miller and
Alex Yoder. They finished in 3:33.65. The women's team of
Rachel Bowser,
Jacquelyn Young,
Julie Heisey and
Liz Martin finished third, in 4:24.52.
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In short distance,
Liz Martin finished eighth for 200 meters (27.83). For the men,
Mark Engle sprinted the 60m in 7.42 seconds, one hundredth away from running in finals.
Tim Hampton and
Tim Minnick finished a hundredth apart, respectively running 7.54 and 7.55 seconds. In the men's 200,
Nicholas White finished sixth for the Falcons with his 23.67 effort.
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Nationally #5 ranked
Trevor Stutzman excelled again in the shot put. He threw his second-farthest distance, winning the meet with a 16.37m (53'8.5") heave.
Brooke Maneval (9.15m, 30'0.25") and
Rebecca Querfeld (9.14m, 30') threw personal record distances, and
Alyssa Mills (9.03m, 29'7.5") improved her season best and qualified for MACs.
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"This was a big momentum-building meet for the indoor season from a competition and team-unity standpoint," Coach
Dale Fogelsanger summarized. "It was encouraging to be at a meet where our team members saw success and placed themselves in scoring positions."
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The Falcons hope to continue their momentum into the DuCharme Invitational at Dickinson College on Feb 15.
