GENEVA, Ohio – A pair of Messiah track athletes were crowned as National Champions on Saturday afternoon with Benjamin Schott winning the 3,000 meter steeplechase (8:59.89) and Esther Seeland claiming the top spot in the 800 meter (2:05.24). Schott's time of 8:58.89 in the steeplechase edged Logan McKenzie (9:03.61) of Berea by nearly five seconds to earn a National Title in his final career race. Seeland completed her first outdoor season of track and field with a National Championship by shattering the Messiah program record with a time of 2:05.24 in the 800 meter to win the event by nearly four and a half seconds.
 
The Championships from Schott and Seeland are the 11th and 12th individual National Championships in Messiah Athletics history. As a department, Messiah now has 30 National Championships in school history, including seven individual National Championships from the men's and women's track and field program (two men's titles and five women's titles).
 
The women's 4x400 meter relay completed Messiah's effort in the National Championships. The Falcons crossed the line in ninth place, but were disqualified for a lane violation early in the race.
 
In the team standings, Messiah finished in a tie for 18th place on the women's side with 13 points and in a tie for 28th place with 10 points in the men's competition. Seeland's victory accounted for 10 points while Alyssa McMinn's All-American finish in the discus gave the Falcons three team points. For the men, Schott's victory earned all 10 of Messiah's team points.
 
Benjamin Schott – National Champion – 3,000 Meter Steeplechase – 8:59.89
With one lap left in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, Benjamin Schott was neck-and-neck with Berea's Logan McKenzie. Schott actually trailed the lead set by McKenzie by half a step with 400 meters remaining. Over the course of the final lap, Schott exploded past McKenzie with a split time of 1:03.89, the fastest final lap in the field by nearly three seconds, to claim the National Championship by over four and a half seconds with a time of 8:58.89. McKenzie finished in second place with a time of 9:03.61.
 
The race looked to be a three runner battle for a majority of the competition with Pomona-Pitzer's Daniel Rosen in the mix with Schott and McKenzie. At the 1,400 meter mark, it was McKenzie in first with Rosen on his shoulder and Schott patiently waiting in third. Over the course of the next two laps, the trio began to spread out slightly. While Rosen slid into third, McKenzie attempted to separate himself and held a lead of almost a second over Schott after 2,200 meters.

The patient Schott started his kick with two laps remaining. The Messiah senior turned in laps of 1:12.124 and 1:03.89 on his final two trips around the track to secure the victory in runaway fashion down the homestretch. Schott took the title with a time of 8:58.89 while McKenzie in seocond (9:03.61) and Rosen in third (9:08.10).
 
With the National Title, Schott joins Chris Boyles (2002 – Decathlon) as the only two Messiah men's track and field athletes to ever claim the top spot on the podium at the National Championship meet. Schott's Title was the 29th National Championship in Messiah Athletics history and the 108th individual National Title in Middle Atlantic Conference history (18th in men's outdoor track and field).
 
Esther Seeland – National Champion – 800 Meter – 2:05.24
Messiah wasted little time adding to their trophy case with Esther Seeland getting underway in the women's 800 meter just a couple hours after Schott finished up. Seeland entered the 800 meter with the second-best time in the Friday prelims. Just as it was in their prelim heat on Friday, it was Seeland and Macaleaster's Phoebe Aguiar pacing the field in the earlier going.
 
After one lap it was Aguiar running out in front with a split of 59.04, the only opening lap under a minute and more than two seconds clear of Seeland (1:01.39) in second. Over the next 200 meters, Seeland began cutting into Aguiar's lead and after the pair rounded the final turn Seeland turned on the jets down the homestretch. The freshman broke free over the final 100 meters to win the race by nearly four and a half seconds with a time of 2:05.24.
 
Seeland's second lap split of 1:03.85 was the fastest in the field by more than three seconds and lifted her to the National Championship.
 
Aguiar (2:10.61) faded down the stretch, finishing in fourth place. Kelly Brennan (Baldwin Wallace) took second in 2:09.71 while Nicole Vacaguzman (Chicago) finished third in 2:10.39.
 
Seeland joins Amy Reed (2008 – Heptathlon) and Kristen Bates (2010 – 100m Hurdles, 55m Hurdles, and Pentathlon) as the only three individuals to win National Championship in women's track and field at Messiah. Seeland's title in the 800 Meter, along with Schott's title in the Steeplechase, gives the Messiah Athletics Department 30 National Championships. All 30 National Titles have come since 2000.
 
According to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Seeland's time is of note, not only because it shatters the program record she set in the prelims (2:09.40), but makes her the third fastest Division III women to ever run the 800 meter. Only Emily Richards (Ohio Northern, Jun. 10, 2017) and Christy Cazzola (Wisconsin – Oshkosh, Jun. 5, 2014) are in front of her with times of 2:00.62 and 2:03.45, respectively.
 
Ellissa Slader, Leanne Weaver, Esther Seeland, Taylor Wiederrecht – 9th Place – Women's 4x400 Meter Relay – DQ
Messiah finished up their effort at the National Championship in the women's 4x400 Meter Relay. The relay team of Ellissa Slader, Leanne Weaver, Esther Seeland, Taylor Wiederrecht marked the first Messiah women's relay team to qualify for the National Finals since the early 1980s when the 4x400 meter relay team went in 1983 and 1984.
 
The Falcons earned their spot in the finals with a prelim time of 3:50.30 on Thursday, but were unable to duplicate that effort in the finals on Saturday afternoon. Even with a bump on the final exchange, the Falcons turned in a time of 3:51.23, but were disqualified from the competition for stepping out of their lane early in the race on the basis of Rule 5-5.2b.
 
Despite the disqualification, the team becomes the first Messiah relay team to qualify for the National Championships in the Dale Fogelsanger era.
 
Team Results
As mentioned, the Falcons finished tied for 18th on the women's side with 13 points and tied for 28th on the men's side with Schott's 10 points. With three points from Alyssa McMinn and 10 from Seeland, the Falcons finished tied with Brandeis and Carthage for 18th place.
 
Benjamin Schott was the lone male competitor at the National Championships for the Falcons and he made the most of his trip to northeast Ohio, collecting all 10 possible points with his victory in the Steeplechase. The Falcons finished tied with Penn State – Harrisburg and Principia for 28th place on the men's side with 10 points.

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