GENEVA, Ohio – The Messiah men's and women's track and field teams got the 2019 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field National Championships started on Thursday with a number of strong performances. Alyssa McMinn highlighted the day with an All-American finish in the discus in her first-ever trip to Nationals. McMinn threw 44.60 meters on her first throw of the competition to finish in sixth-place.
 
Taylor Wiederrecht completed the first four events in the Heptathlon and currently sits in 15th place heading into the final three events on Friday. Wiederrecht finished the first day of competition with 2,723 points.
 
Benjamin Schott dominated the opening heat of the 3,000-meter steeplechase to earn the top-seed entering the Finals on Saturday. Schott finished with a time of 9:09.51, nearly two seconds ahead of the second-best time by Matthew Wilkinson (9:11.43) from Carleton.
 
The women's 4x400 meter relay team completed the day of competition for the Falcons with their prelims on Thursday evening. The team of Ellissa Slader, Leanne Weaver, Esther Seeland, and Taylor Wiederrecht turned in a program record time of 3:50.30 to earn the seventh seed heading into the Finals on Saturday afternoon.
 
Competition continues on Friday morning with the completion of the heptathlon. Messiah also has entries in the women's high jump finals and the women's 800 meter prelims.
 
Alyssa McMinn – Sixth place – Discus – 44.60 meters
Alyssa McMinn capped off her collegiate career with her first-ever trip to the Nationals Championships this weekend. After qualifying for the Championships with a program-record toss of 45.86m (150' 5") at the Larry Ellis earlier this season, McMinn wasted little time getting a big throw on the board at Nationals. In her first-ever toss on the National stage, McMinn threw 44.60 meters to jump into second-place.
 
The 44.60-meter toss advanced her into the finals as the third seed and while she was unable to improve that mark in the finals with throws of 42.38m and 34.18m, McMinn was able finish her career with a sixth-place finish at Nationals and an All-American honor.
 
Erica Oawster of Wisconsin – Eau Claire won the event with a distance of 48.86 meters with Kayla Rambo (48.13m) of Whitworth taking second and Agne Lukoseviciute (47.31m) of Grinnell finishing in third.
 
McMinn's sixth-place finish earned Messiah three team points.
 
Benjamin Schott – Top Prelim Time – 3,000 Meter Steeplechase – 9:09.51
Benjamin Schott entered the National Championships as the second-seeded runner in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, but blew away the field in the prelims of the event on Thursday evening to advance to the finals with the quickest time in the field with a mark of 9:09.51. Competing in the opening heat, Schott led wire-to-wire with a comfortable margin for a majority of the race. Of his seven full laps, Schott turned in five that were sub-1:14.00 with all seven clocking in under 1:14.40.
 
Despite a strong final lap from Carleton's Matthew Wilkinson (1:08.95), Schott's lead was enough for him to hold off the sophomore to secure the heat one victory and the top time heading into Saturday's final.
 
The men's 3,000 meter steeplechase final is slated for Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m.
 
Taylor Wiederrecht – Day One Update – Heptathlon – 2,723 points
The seven events that comprise the women's heptathlon spans the first two days of the National Championships with four events contested on Thursday and the final three completed on Friday. Taylor Wiederrecht and the rest of the heptathlon field completed the 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, and 200 meter sprint on Thursday. After the first four events, Wiederecht sits in 15th place with 2,723 points.
 
Currently, Wisconsin – Eau Claire's Sylviann Momont leads the field with 3,085 points through the first day of competition.
 
Wiederrecht started her day with a person best, 15.76 in the 100 meter hurdles to earn 744 points. She then picked up 771 points in the high jump with a height of 1.63 meters. After a shot put mark of 9.39 meters for 490 points and a 200 meter sprint in a time of 26.92, good for 718 points, Wiederrecht finished the day with 2,723 total points.
 
The heptathlon will wrap-up tomorrow with the long jump, javelin, and 800 meter run. The long jump will be the first event on the docent and is slated to begin at 11:30 a.m.
 
Ellissa Slader, Leanne Weaver, Esther Seeland, Taylor Wiederrecht - Women's 4x400 Meter Relay – Seventh Prelim Time – 3:50.30 (Program Record)
In Messiah's final event of Day One, the team of Ellissa Slader, Leanne Weaver, Esther Seeland, and Taylor Wiederrecht turned in a new program record in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:50.30 to earn a spot in the finals on Saturday. Competing in the first of two heats, Messiah's time placed them fourth in their heat. With the top two teams from each heat automatically qualifying for the finals and the next five fastest times advancing, the Falcons had to wait a few minutes to see if they would earn a spot in Saturday afternoon's final.
 
After the second heat produced just three relay teams with faster times, Messiah locked up their spot in the finals, earning the seventh seed in the nine-team race.
 
After two legs of the race, Messiah sat in seventh place of the eight teams running in their heat, but a stellar 55.99 split from Esther Seeland on the third leg jumped Messiah past five teams and into second-place. Wiederrecht anchored the race and carried Messiah across the line with an overall time of 3:50.30, placing them fourth in the heat and seventh overall.
 
The women's 4x400 meter relay finals will be the final race contested at the National Championships and is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.

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