CHESTER, Pa. – The Messiah women's track and field competed in the second day of the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Widener University on Friday. Highlighting the day's efforts were a considerable number of Falcons qualifying for finals, as well as
Taylor Wiederrecht earning a gold medal in the high jump (1.62m).
Messiah's first gold medal of the three-day competition came in a field event, the high jump, as
Taylor Wiederrecht cleared the bar at a height of 1.62m. The winning height eclipsed Alvernia's Susanna Pirollo (1.56m). The senior heptathlete also competed in the long jump, earning Messiah two team points with a distance of 5.01m.
After turning in a solid Day One performance in the heptathlon, T. Wiederrecht finished the concluding three events in strong fashion. Entering the day with a total of 2842 points for a second-place positon in the standings, T. Wiederrecht recorded a distance of 5.03m in the long jump, notched 26.26m in the javelin throw, and crossed the line in 2:37.07 in the 800m. T. Wiederrecht finished the event in second place, earning a silver medal, contributing eight team points to the Falcons.
Ali Schutte, competing in her first-ever MAC Outdoor Championship, turned in a quality performance in the 3000m steeplechase, earning a second-place finish. The sophomore notched a time of 12:11.24, a new-personal best mark, adding a silver medal to the Falcons' efforsts.
In the discus throw,
Justine Eckert achieved a distance of 34.53m, claiming a new personal-best mark. Her previous personal-best was 31.31m, achieved at the Messiah Multi/Invitational.
Amanda Brown also competed in the event, recording a distance of 32.16m.
Preliminaries
Esther Seeland and Elissa Slader (59.49s) placed second and third, respectively, in the preliminary round of the 400m. Seeland, earning second with a time of 58.43s, was edged by Stevens Institute of Technology's Gina Dello Russo. Dello Russo, coming in with a conference-leading time of 55.33s, will square off with Seeland in the finals tomorrow, a promising matchup between two of the top track athletes in the conference.
In the 100m,
Kathryn Wiederrecht and Slader each qualified for the finals. In just the second time running the event this season, Slader recorded a time of 12.68s, the second-fastest time out of all 24 competitors. Following Slader in marginal fashion was K. Wiederrecht, finishing just three-hundredths (12.71s) of a second after her teammate.
Both Slader and K. Wiederrecht represented the Falcons well in the 200m. Earning second and third-place finishes, respectively, the two sprinters earned qualifications to the finals. Slader earned a time of 25.77s, as K. Wiederrecht crossed the line in 26.04s. Both sprinters topped all competition in their respective heats.
Three Falcons will be moving on to the 800m final tomorrow.
Ashlyn Stonge (2:21.71), Seeland (2:22.76), and
Olivia Cory (2:23.29) all turned in qualifying times in the event. Seeland enters tomorrow's conference final with the top 800m time in NCAA DIII (2:03.75).
Madison Myers (2:30.86) missed the cut, but just eclipsed her season-best mark by two-tenths of a second (2:31.06).
Earning a third-place finish in the first heat of preliminary competition of the 4x100m relay, a relay team of K. Wiederrecht,
Emily Gourley,
Megan Raab, and Slader recorded a time of 51.51s.
In the 100m hurdles, K. Wiederrecht and
Claire Miller each registered strong outings. Miller crossed the line in 16.55s, just a mere hundredth of a second from her personal-best mark set at the Messiah Multi/Invitational (Apr. 10). Miller qualified for the finals, along with K. Wiederrecht, who turned in a time of 15.92s.
Despite missing qualifying by two-tenths of a second and missing her personal-best time by just under a second,
Brieanna Hess was strong in the 400m hurdles. Turning in a time of 1:10.38, Hess registered a top-ten finish (9th).
Heading into the final day of the competition, Messiah has a firm hold on first place with a total of 54 team points. With an 18-point lead over Misericordia, the Falcons are looking to claim its fifth-consecutive MAC Championship.
The Falcons are back in action tomorrow, May 8, for the final day of the MAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Chester, Pa. The third day of competition is slated to begin at 12:00 p.m.
