READING, Pa.- On Saturday evening, the Messiah men's indoor track and field team claimed their third-ever MAC Championship. In a dramatic Conference Championship, the Falcons edged second-place Lebanon Valley by four points and third-place Widener by seven and a half to clinch the Title. Messiah ended the meet with 107.5 team points, but it came down to the final event of the Championship to decide a winner. Messiah finished fifth in the 4x400 Meter Relay, good enough to hold onto the lead they had built early in the day.
 
Heptathalon Day Two
Gavin Dunkerton and Liam McGovern completed three events Saturday in addition to the four Friday events. Dunkerton earned a personal best mark in each of the three events. He ran a 9.19 in the 60 Meter Hurdles before clearing a height of 3.60 meters in the Pole Vault. He concluded the day with a 3:03.81 finish in the 1000 Meter to earn fourth place in the Heptathalon with a final score of 4076, also a new personal best.
 
McGovern also reached new personal bests in each of the events today as he concluded his first Heptathalon. He ran a time of 10.13 in the 60 Meter Hurdles and cleared a height of 2.70 meters in the Pole Vault. His day concluded with a time of 3:13.55 in the 1000. His final score of 3424 earned him seventh place.
 
In the Field
After a bit of a slow start, Derek Heisey was able to find his rhythm and claimed second place in the High Jump after clearing a height of 1.89 meters. Landon Kerr joined him on the podium after a 1.78 clearance placed him in seventh on the day.
 
Kerr also picked up a ninth place finish in the Triple Jump with a new personal best of 13.02. John Steele picked up a sixth place finish with a mark of 13.28 meters. Noah Keitel finished the day with a mark of 12.38.
 
On the Track
Messiah placed four runners in the top ten of the Mile, with three earning spots on the podium. Leading the way was a one-two finish for Logan Horst and Louka Fetter. The duo who have found themselves amongst the top finishers in their races all season were able to do it again on Saturday afternoon. Horst finished in a time of 4:18.72 to claim the gold while Fetter's final time of 4:19.20 earned him the silver. Andrew Hutchinson joined them on the podium with a fifth place finish after crossing the line in a time of 4:20.87. Josiah Moyer (ninth, 9:26.29), Noah Calisti (11th, 4:28.67), and Zeke Colyer (4:34.45) also represented the Falcons in the Mile.
 
Five of the Mile runners returned to the track together for the 3000 Meter later in the afternoon. Logan Horst earned his second gold medal of the day, crossing the line in a time of 8:42.84. Fetter battled for a third-place finish with a time of 8:46.43. Calisti earned the final podium spot with a time of 8:50.50 to claim eighth. Hutchinson (ninth, 8:52.82), Moyer (11th, 8:57.00), and Kyle Costello (13th, 8:58.41) all ran well for the Falcons.
 
In the 60 Meter Dash final, Zach Mayro improved upon his seeding out of the preliminaries and ended the day in fifth after a time of 7.16, just missing his newly set personal best from Friday afternoon.
 
John Condon earned a fourth place finish in the 800 Meter with a final time of 1:57.82, less than a second from his personal best. Nathaniel Coggins also finished just shy of a personal best, running a time of 2:05.50.
 
The final two events of the day were the 4x800 and 4x400 Meter Relay races. The team of Josh Bauman, Nathan Kimmel, John Condon, and Logan Horst finished the 4x800 Meter Relay in a time of 8:06.37 to earn third place. With that finish, Messiah held on to a 4.5 point lead heading into the final event of the day.
 
As mentioned, Messiah earned a fifth place finish in the 4x400 Meter Relay, which was enough to hold on to the slim victory. The team of Zach French, Derek Heisey, Adam Hostetler, and Nathan Kopp combined for a time of 3:34.62.
 
Logan Horst was named the Track Athlete of the Year, Louka Fetter was named the Rookie of the Year, and Dale Fogelsanger earned Coach of the Year. To note, Horst's honor came after he scored a total of 23.5 points over the weekend, more than any other individual athlete across track or field events. As mentioned this is Messiah's third indoor men's track and field championship, with their previous two coming in back-to-back years in 2008 and 2009.

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