GENEVA, Ohio - Day Two of the NCAA Division III National Championships featured a pair of Messiah women's track and field student-athletes with
Taylor Wiederrecht and
Esther Seeland in action. Seeland highlighted the day by qualifying for the National Championship final in the event with a program record breaking time of 2:09.40 in the prelims. Her time placed her second in the heat and was also the second-best mark in the prelims.
Wiederrecht had a full day with three heptathlon events in addition to the high jump in the morning. While juggling the high jump and heptathlon's long jump, Wiederrecht finished tied for 14th in the high jump with a height of 1.61 meters (5' 3.25").
The National Championships will conclude on Saturday with Seeland (800 meter),
Benjamin Schott (steeplechase), and the women's 4x400 meter relay in action.
Taylor Wiederrecht - High Jump - T14th Place - 1.61 meters
As mentioned, Wiederrecht had to pull double duty this morning with the high jump and heptathlon long jump both taking place at 11:30 a.m. Wiederrecht started her day at the high jump, clearing 1.56 meters on her first attempt. After a quick spike change and a jump in the sand, she was back at the high jump pit for her first attempt at 1.61 meters. She cleared that bar without a problem and heading back to the long jump.
After taking two attempts at the long jump, Wiederrecht had to swap her shoes out again and focus on the high jump. Unfortunately, three-straight misses at 1.64 meters ended her run at the high jump. She finished the competition in a tie with Misericordia's Reilly Wagner for 14th place.
Taylor Wiederrecht - Heptathlon - 20th Place - 4,345 points
After a solid first day of competion on Thursday, Wiederecht was back in action with three events on Friday to complete the women's heptathlon. While also competing in the high jump, Wiederrecht was in action in the long jump. Her best jump came on her second of three attempts. Her distance of 5.22 meters (17' 1.50") gave her 620 points to her Thursday total of 2,723. Her long jump was the 14th best jump in the heptathlon field.
The two final events of the heptathlon were the javelin and 800 meter. Wiederrecht's best throw in the javelin came on her first attempt and clocked in at 25.00 meters (82'), earning her 382 points. Her 800 meter time of 2:35.98 earned her 620 points and she ended the two-day competition with 4,345 total points and a 20th-place finish.
Esther Seeland - 800 Meter - Second-Best Prelim Time - 2:09:40 (Program Record)
Competing in the second of three heats,
Esther Seeland turned in a program record time of 2:09.40 to clinch her spot in the finals on Saturday. Seeland locked up an automatic qualifier to the finals with a second-place finish in her heat.
Her time was the second-best of any of the three prelims, trailing only Phoebe Aguiar (2:09.27) of Macalester.
Seeland was relatively consistent in Friday's prelims, earning splits of 1:03.55 and 1:05.85. With her time of 2:09.40, she broke the previous school record (held by
Leanne Weaver - 2:10.97) by over a second and a half and shaved nearly two seconds off her previous best time of the season of 2:11.25.
Seeland will take the track tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. for the 800 meter final. She will also be in action in the 4x400 meter relay. The relay is slated to begin at 4:00 p.m.
In addition to Seeland in the 800 meter and the Falcons' 4x400 meter relay,
Benjamin Schott will be in action at 11:30 a.m. when he racese in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
