GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah men's track and field team competed in the Messiah Invitational at Starry Track on Saturday afternoon, placing first out nine teams with a total team score of 176. The Falcons were led by
Brody Beiler, who turned in a first-place finish in the 800 (1:53.77). Messiah had other notable top finishers, including
Josiah Zehr in the 400 meter hurdles,
Derek Heisey in the high jump, and
Brendan Provan in the long jump and triple jump.
Track Events
Beiler's 800 win was by a narrow margin, eclipsing DeSales' Matthew Kraus by just under a second. The Falcons turned in quality performances in the event, as
Logan Horst (2:00.17), and
Luke Myers (2:02.01) finished top-ten.
In the 400, Zehr recorded a winning time of 58.43. Falcon runners claimed second and third place behind Zehr, as Heisey earned his second first-place finish of the day with a time of 58.87. Following Heisey was
Ryan Thurber, finishing just over the one-minute mark (60.19).
The Falcons registered plenty of other notable finishes in the remainder of the track events. Provan turned in a third-place finish in the 100, crossing the line in 11.17 seconds. The first heat of the 200 featured a second-place finish from a Messiah runner as
Joshua Horst turned in a time of 24.65. The 400 had just four competitors, with
Connor Daudt representing the Falcons, earning a time of 54.02.
Andrew Schott contributed points in the 110 hurdles, claiming a third-place finish with a time of 15.61. Joining Schott in representing Messiah in the event was
Aedan Wilkinson, turning in a 62.84 performance.
The Falcons competed in the 4x100 and 4x400 relay. Turning in a second-place finish (44.75) in the 4x100 was a team of Zach Mayro,
Joshua Horst, Zehr, and Provan. A team composed Daudt, Thurber, Beiler, and
Cassidy Hoffman registered a time of 3:31.79 in the 4x400.
Field Events
Provan led the way for Messiah in the field events, leaping to a winning distance of 7.01 meters in the long jump, while clearing a distance of 14.33 meters in the triple jump, topping all competition. Provan's long jump distance earned third-best on Messiah's all-time list, just one-hundredth of an inch short of matching the second-best mark of 23.0'.
Noah Keitel jumped his way to a third-place finish in the long jump, recording a distance of 6.40 meters, as
Ezra Lee registered a distance of 5.53 meters. Keitel earned his second third-place finish in the ripple jump (12.88).
Heisey led all competitors in the high jump, clearing a winning height of 1.90 meters. Schott turned in a third-place finish (1.75), as Keitel recorded a height of 1.60 meters.
Messiah had two pole vaulters compete, as Zehr vaulted to a second-place finish (4.43).
Joel Rhinehart also competed, vaulting to a final height of 3.14 meters.
Messiah's 176 team points topped all nine teams that competed, as DeSales (141) placed second, followed by Lebanon Valley (140).
What's Next
The Falcons will be back in action next Saturday, Apr. 17, competing at Lebanon Valley College.
