GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah women's track & field team competed in the Messiah Multi and Distance Carnival on Thursday and Friday afternoon at Starry Track, placing first out of eight teams.
Esther Seeland highlighted the afternoon, notching a new program record in the 1500 (4:27.39). Along with surpassing the previous program benchmark (4:36.33) set by herself in 2019, Seeland's time is currently the best 1500 time in NCAA DIII. Joining Seeland with a notable first-place finish was
Sarah Codd, placing first in the 10,000 with a winning time of 38:23.09.
The Falcons posted 42 team points, as Lebanon Valley came in second with 32 points, followed by York (Pa.) with 25 points.
The heptathlon began on Thursday afternoon at Starry Track, as
Natalie Hamlen represented the Falcons. Of the seven events, Hamlen performed particularly well in the long jump and 800. The freshman heptathlete landed at a distance of 4.45 meters in the long jump, while finishing the 800 in 2:39.62. Hamlen scored a total of 2,637 points.
Seeland won the 1500 by over 16 seconds,
Kathleen Walstrom broke the five-minute threshold, crossing the line at 4:58.37. Messiah runners placed quality times across the board in the 1500, including
Ashlyn Stonge (5:04.10) and
Connor Coggins.
Codd led all runners in the 10,000, besting York College's Jordan Haberstroh by just under a minute.
Joy Galbraith placed third with a time of 40:41.31, as
Ellie Quesenberry crossed the line in 46:59.67.
The 5000 was filled with Falcon runners, as Tedi Powell led all Messiah participants with a time of 17:58.77. Powell turned in a second-place performance, as four Falcons placed in the top ten. Of those Messiah runners,
Ali Schutte crossed in 19:14.89,
Marianne Fitzkee in 19:40.68, and
Chloe Wester in 19:46.87.
Justine Eckert competed in the hammer throw for the Falcons, recording a distance of 23.69 meters.
Messiah will be back in action tomorrow, Apr. 10, at Starry Track to complete the Messiah Invitational, set to begin at 11:00 a.m.
