SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The Messiah men's track and field team issued split-squad efforts on Friday afternoon, competing at both the Susquehanna Tune-Up at James W. Garrett Sports Complex Field House (Susquehanna University) and the Penn State Tune-Up at Ashenfelter Indoor Track (Penn State University). The Falcons issued strong performances in both events, highlighted by
Logan Horst earning the second-fasted one-mile time (4:17.79) in Messiah men's indoor track and field history at Penn State and three Messiah runners placing top-ten in the 800m event at Susquehanna. Additionally,
Landon Kerr impressed in the field events, most notably earning a second-place finish in the long jump (5.98m).
The Falcons will be back in action next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25 & 26, in the MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships at Alvernia University.
Read below for the highlights of each meet:
Susquehanna Tune-Up
60m Dash
Both
Joshua Horst and
Ezra Lee competed in the 60m dash. Horst, placing 15th out of 22 runners, crossed the line in 7.66s as Lee recorded a time of 7.86s.
60m Hurdles
John Steele issued a strong performance for Messiah in the 60m hurdles event. Steele placed second overall in the first heat of the preliminary stage, qualifying for the finals with a time of 8.88s. In the finals, Steele placed third overall, crossing the line in 8.90s. Steel's preliminary mark was a season-best time.
200m
Aedan Wilkinson and
Derek Heisey led the way for Messiah in the 200m. Wilkinson tied for third overall out of a strong field of 25 runners with a time of 23.78s, tying with Elizabethtown's Evan Schwab. Heisey finished just behind the two runners with a mark of 23.87s as
Joshua Horst recorded a time of 25.35s.
800m
The 800m was a strong event for the Falcons as three runners placed top-ten.
Nathan Kimmel led the way for Messiah with a fourth-place finish (2:01.85) as
Josh Bauman (2:03.58) and
Cassidy Hoffman (2:07.04) placed sixth and ninth overall, respectively.
Adam Hostetler also had a strong showing, finishing with a time of 2:10.10.
3000m
The Falcons had a total of six runners compete in the 3000m event.
Xander Smith,
Jonathan Wyrick,
James Sahakian,
Lance Kauffman,
Jackson Hazen, and
Ryan McAllister all competed in the first heat as Smith topped all competition with a winning mark of 9:29.67. Wyrick (9:47.03) placed fifth, Sahakian (9:52.87) placed sixth, Kauffman (9:54.89) placed seventh, Hazen (10:18.88) placed 10th, and McAllister (10:33.07) placed 11th overall.
1-Mile
Ray Truex recorded an impressive fourth-place finish in the 1-mile event. Truex finished with a time of 4:45.29 as
Aidan Pryor (4:54.57),
Derek Guissanie (5:04.13), and
Will Reeder (5:29.72) all contributed strong performances.
4x400m Relay
The 4x400m relay event featured a first-place finish from the Messiah Falcons with a team consisting of
Aedan Wilkinson,
Derek Heisey,
Nathan Kimmel, and Cassisdy Hoffman. The squad topped all competition with a winning time of 3:37.70.
- Wilkinson (54.81s)
- Heisey (52.42s)
- Kimmel (55.70s)
- Hoffman (54.78s)
In addition, Messiah had two other relay teams compete in impressive fashion. A team of
Ray Truex,
Josh Bauman,
Adam Hostetler, and
Ryan Thurber finished with a time of 3:57.27 while a team of
Xander Smith,
Derek Guissanie,
Jackson Hazen, and
Will Reeder finished with a mark of 4:09.37.
High Jump
Derek Heisey led the way for the Falcons in the high jump, earning the top mark out of all nine jumpers with a height of 1.89m.
Landon Kerr also represented Messiah in the event, leaping to a mark of 1.74m. Kerr improved upon a previous 1.60m, which he achieved earlier this season at the Mini-Dip Invitational in Lancaster, Pa.
Long Jump
The Falcons were well-represented in the long jump, highlighted by a second-place finish by
Landon Kerr. Kerr's top distance was 5.98m as
Ezra Lee also competed in the event, earning a mark of 5.27m
Pole Vault
Josiah Zehr placed third overall out of eight vaulters with a top mark of 3.90m.
Joel Rhinehart (3.60m) and
Andrew Overman (3.20m) also represented the Falcons in the field event.
Shot Put
Hoyt Lechthaler and
Ryan O'Donnell competed in the shot put event. Both Falcons competed well as Lechthaler achieved a mark of 10.55m while O'Donnell recorded a distance of 10.21m.
Weight Throw
Hoyt Lechthaler represented the Falcons in the weight throw, earning a mark of 9.69m. Lechthaler recorded the mark on his third attempt, a season-best distance for the first-year thrower.
Penn State Tune-Up
60m
Brendan Provan competed against strong competition in the 60m dash, placing fifth overall with a time of 7.19s in the preliminary stage, qualifying for the finals. In the finals, Provan earned a time of 7.22s, placing fourth out of six sprinters.
60m Hurdles
Andrew Schott represented Messiah well in the 60m dash, placing third out of five sprinters in the finals with a mark of 8.88s. Schott, with his strong performance, nearly missed a new season-best time (8.84s).
1-Mile
Kyle Costello,
Logan Horst,
Andrew Hutchinson,
Josiah Moyer, and
Noah Calisti all represented Messiah in the 1-mile event. Horst led the way for the Falcons, earning an impressive fourth-place finish in the finals amongst NCAA DI competition with a time of 4:17.79. Horst's mark ranks second all-time in Messiah men's indoor track and field history in the indoor one-mile event. Calisti (4:22.69), Hutchinson (4:22.82), Moyer (4:26.24), and Costello (4:27.77) all registered strong finishes in the unseeded section. All five Falcons made improvements on their previous season-best 1-mile marks.
Triple Jump
Provan competed in the triple jump, placing fourth overall out of four total jumpers with a top mark of 13.77m. Provan fell just short of his personal-best mark of 14.05m, but still earned the fifth-best indoor triple jump performance in Messiah men's indoor track and field history.
