Messiah Invitational 2014 Homepage |
Men's Results |
Women's Results by Joel Zeigler, GoMessiah.com reporterGrantham, PA – The Falcons hosted their annual Messiah College Invitational on Saturday, and they could not have chosen a better day. With the sun shining down and temperatures creeping into the 70's, the Messiah men and women put forth impressive performances on the track and in the field.
The men's team won the meet by 84.5 points with 189 total, and the women won by a margin of 76.5 points with a final sum of 180.
The meet was a three-day event, with the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon happening on Thursday and Friday. (A full recap of the multi events as well as men's discus can be
found here.)
There were many first place finishes throughout the day. For the men these included:
Alex Yoder in the 200m (21.99) and 400m (48.70);
Jonphilip McGill in the 800m (1:56.1);
Tyler Sensenig in the 5000m (15:56);
Nicholas White in the 110m hurdles (15.96);
Jared Schatz in the 3000m steeplechase (9:50); McGill,
Cameron Shirk,
Nathaniel Pardoe, and
Jeremy White in the 4x800 meter relay (8:14.99); and
Trevor Stutzman in both the shot put (16.99m) and discus (49.01m)-- both Messiah Invitational and Starry Field records.
McGill's 800 victory came as a thrilling duel to the finish with Penn State Track Club's Garrett Derringer, whom JP bested by a tenth of a second at the line. Yoder's 200 time was a PR, and one hundredth of a second short of Danny Wicks' twelve year old school record. Schatz's steeplechase win came all alone as he cruised in for a PR. Stutzman's shotput mark was a lifetime PR and improves his third place national ranking.
First place finishes for the women included:
Emily Senning in the 800m (2:23.04);
Tasha Becker in the 5000m (19:30.42);
Liz Martin in both the 100 and 400m hurdles (15.66, 1:04.04);
Sarah Goodman in the javelin (33.03m);
Rachel Robison in the pole vault (3.25m);
Hadlee Coker in the high jump (1.62m); and
Alyssa Mills in the heptathlon (3709 points).
Liz Martin's 400 hurdles time places her in the top-20 in the nation so far this season. Mills' heptathlon score moves her to third all-time at Messiah.
The Falcons experienced many PRs and MAC championships qualifications all day long.
In the 10,000m, the longest track event,
Caleb McGaughran qualified (35:33), as did
Susannah Marshall (44:19) and Jennifer Bove (43:16). Bove's qualification was notably impressive, considering she has been in a boot and on crutches nursing an injury for the past two weeks.
In the 5000m,
Timothy Mast ran a PR of 17:33. Birthday girl
Victoria Hepp also ran a PR, finishing in 20:34.
Sophomore
Joel Ngui ended his day well, with a heat win and a PR in the 200m (25.43).
Mark Engle bettered his 100m PR by a hundredth, sprinting to an 11.43 in finals. In the women's triple jump, freshman
Abbey King qualified for MACs with her jump of 9.68m.
In the throws,
Peyton Lagasse achieved a PR in the shotput with her 7.46m throw.
Matthew Miller and
Celtson Toote had breakout days in the javelin. Miller threw 53.10m and Toote came in right behind at 53.09m. These marks were significant personal records and placed them in sixth and seventh places all-time at Messiah.
Messiah's third outdoor meet of the season proved to be a raving success, from the performances on the track to the community of alumni and parent attendance to commemorate coach
Dale Fogelsanger's 20th year of coaching. Fogelsanger is now the longest tenured coach in Messiah College Athletics track and field history.
The Falcons will seek an extension to their momentum as they compete on Wednesday evening (Apr. 16) at the Dickinson Twilight meet in Carlisle, Pa.
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