Championship Homepage | Results
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Messiah College women's track and field team utilized three MAC Indoor Championship meet records and four program records to finish in second-place at the 2019 MAC Indoor Championships. The Falcons finished with 136.33 team points, just 7.17 points behind first-place Misericordia who earned 143.5 points.
Esther Seeland took home gold in the mile, 800m, and was part of the 4x800m relay crew that took first, running her way to the MAC Indoor Rookie of the Year title.
Day Two Results
Abby McMinn led the way for Messiah in the 60m hurdle finals, running a personal best time of 9.10 seconds, good for a silver medal and third on Messiah's top-10 list. McMinn's time also puts her among the top-30 in the nation.
Kathryn Wiederrecht came through the line in 9.56 seconds to take seventh and move into sixth on the program's top-10 list.
The mile was a highlight for the Falcons as
Esther Seeland took down the defending champion, Clare Schoen, in the mile. Seeland edged out Schoen at the line, finishing with a meet record time of 5:01.06 while Schoen finished in second with a time of 5:01.36. Seeland's time is also a program record and puts her 17th in the nation.
Maddison Landis finished the mile with a 5:08.70, good for fourth-place and a nearly three second personal best.
The Falcons took two of the three medals in the 400m with
Ellissa Slader claiming the title as a freshmen after running a 59.09.
Taylor Wiederrecht came through the line just one second later, finishing in third place. Slader also claimed the 200m title after running a 26.30 to edge out Alyssa Diffenderfer from Lebanon Valley by .16 seconds.
Kathryn Wiederrecht finished the 200m in eighth place with a 26.98, moving her into sixth place on Messiah's top-10 list.
In the 800m, Messiah took home all the hardware, earning first, second, and third-place with
Esther Seeland leading the way. Seeland came through the line in 2:20.48 with
Leanne Weaver (2:21.43) and
Maddison Landis (2:21.81) following right behind her, respectively.
Sarah Codd led the Falcon's efforts in the 3,000m, coming through the line in 10:40.94 to take fifth. Codd's time is close to a two second personal best and keeps her at fifth in Messiah's top-10 list.
The 4x400m relay squad, consisting of
Ellissa Slader,
Leanne Weaver,
Rebecca Crosley, and
Taylor Wiederrecht came through the line more than a second ahead of second place, Misericordia, to claim gold. The Falcons came through the line with a total time of 4:03.08, just .18 seconds off of the MAC Indoor meet record.
The 4x800m relay team set a new MAC record and a new program record after throwing down a 9:38.42, more than eight seconds ahead of second-place.
Maddison Landis,
Brieanna Hess,
Mikayla Lewin, and
Esther Seeland put together the record-breaking race to highlight bring home the 4x800m relay title.
Taylor Wiederrecht highlighted the Falcons' performance in the high jump, clearing 1.71m on her third attempt to break the program record and MAC Indoor meet record. T. Wiederrecht ran into some trouble at 1.61m, missing her first two attempts but was the only competitor to clear that height. T. Wiederrecht missed her first two attempts at 1.69m but cleared on her third try. T. Wiederrecht followed that same pattern for her record-setting height of 1.71m.
Emily Gourley made her way onto the podium with a two centimeter personal best height of 1.47m, good for eighth place.
Alyssa McMinn threw 12.37m in the last round of shot put finals to finish in fourth place, highlighting the Falcons' efforts in the throws.
Records Were Meant To Be Broken
As mentioned, the Falcons broke four program records, three of which being MAC Indoor meet records. The 4x200m relay team broke the record on Friday night, running a 1:48.27 to get things started for Messiah. The 4x800m relay squad dominated the competition to break the program record and meet record with a 9:38.42.
Esther Seeland added another record under her belt, breaking the program and meet record in the mile after edging out Misericordia's Clare Schoen with a time of 5:01.36. Tayor Wiederrecht rounded out the Falcons' record-breaking performances with a third-attempt clear at 1.71m in the high jump. T. Wiederrecht's height of 1.71m moves her into sixth in the nation.
What's Up Next
The Falcons will wait to see who officially punched their ticket to the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships taking place on Mar. 8-9 in Boston, Ma.
