LA CROSSE, Wis. - Messiah track & field had three athletes competing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Friday in
Christian Pavlovich (javelin finals),
Taylor Wiederrecht (400m prelims), and
Leanne Weaver (800m prelims), in addition to Ben Schott (3000m steeplechase) on Thursday. Pavlovich was able to advance to the javelin finals that were also held Friday, but the other three were unable to make it out of the prelims into Saturday's final races.
In the men's javelin
Christian Pavlovich was competing in his fourth outdoor championships and this year the senior finished ninth overall with a throw of 62.23 meters (204'2"). This is the highest finish for Pavlovich across his four years competing at nationals and he certainly has a lot to be proud of as he leaves Messiah ranked first in the javelin with a mark of 210'10.''
In the women's 400-meter run
Taylor Wiederrecht ran a time of 58.61 to finish 22nd overall and unfortunately did not qualify for finals tomorrow. However, a lot is to be said for the season she had after breaking the 35 year-long program record in this event last week with a time of 56.60.
Finally in the women's 800-meter run
Leanne Weaver, who entered the race seeded eighth, finished 10th overall with a time of 2:11.35 missing the finals by just about two seconds. It was a great first showing at the championships for the sophomore, however, as Weaver certainly has a bright future ahead of her. Weaver also set a new program record in this event last week running a time of 2:10.97 and earlier this month won the 800m race at MAC Championships and was named Female Track Athlete of the Year.Â
On Thursday,
Benjamin Schott competed in the 3000-meter steeplechase and finished in 18th place overall with a time of 9:36.78. Although it wasn't the outcome that was hoped for after entering the event seeded second, a lot is to be said about the tremendous season put forth by Schott. The junior broke the program record in the 3000-meter steeplechase last week with a time of 8:58.50 and also won this event at MAC Championships earlier this month. He also moved up in the ranks for the 1500-meter run after setting a new personal record time of 3:54.80 and ranks second in the all-time Messiah records.
