GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah Men's Cross Country team finished 3rd out of 16 teams today at the 2024 Middle Atlantic Conference Cross Country Championships, hosted by the Falcons across the campus of Messiah University. The championships saw a slew of surprisingly fast times given the challenging, jarring, and hilly nature of the course, made possible by the beautiful racing weather and great conditions. The Falcons finished in third place with a score of 77 points, a much stronger total than their 3rd place finish with a score of 109 from last year's 2023 MAC Championships. The Falcons finished narrowly behind 2nd place Misericordia, which finished with 71 points, while both teams were considerably distanced by dominant winner Lebanon Valley (34 points). Behind, DeSales finished well to register a 4th-place finish with 98 points, with Stevens rounding out the top 5 with a score of 165 points. The Falcons benefitted from all five scoring runners earning All-MAC status, a designation awarded to the top 30 finishers in the championships. One Falcon -
Jackson Kay - finished Third Team All-MAC, with two -
Kyle Costello and
Kaleb Kabakjian - finishing Second Team All-MAC and two -
Louka Fetter and
John Condon - also finishing First Team All-MAC. The Falcons improved significantly on their performances from the Messiah Invite earlier in the season, improving their top 5 average time from 28:25 earlier in the year to 27:09, an incredible drop in time in one month. The Falcons performed very well overall and were very proud of their efforts on the day that led them to a top-three team finish.
Race Action
Juniors
Louka Fetter and
John Condon were the top-finishing Falcons on the day, finishing back-to-back in 5th and 6th place with respective times of 26:32.6 and 26:37.9, earning both runners First Team All-MAC status. Condon began the race very quickly, shooting immediately to the front and stringing out the race from the gun, while Fetter ran cautiously at the tail end of a chase group that opened up a few seconds behind the leaders. Condon led the field through the first mile with a swift time of 5:12 across uphill, gravel terrain, while Fetter followed through in 13th with a time of 5:16. Condon began to filter back from the small lead pack of 4-5 runners during the extremely uphill second mile while Fetter moved several places ahead, bringing the two closer as they passed through the second mile with times of 10:44 and 10:47, extremely quick times on such a challenging course. Soon after, Fetter rejoined with Condon as the two ran in 6th and 7th place through the halfway split of the course. The duo continued on together for several minutes together in a pack that made up 5th-8th place before Fetter made a move a bit after the 5K mark to stretch away and cement his placement in 5th. Fetter sustained that move to the finish to place 5th overall, while Condon passed every other runner to follow Fetter closely across the finish in 6th place. Fetter's finish narrowly improves on his previous best MAC finishes, two 7th place finishes during both freshman and sophomore year. Condon's placement stood as his first time ever earning a medal and All-MAC status after finishing in 36th and 40th place in the last two editions of these championships.
Kyle Costello ran an excellent race for the Falcons to finish in 17th place, earning Second Team All-MAC status, with a time of 27:20.1 that represents an incredible improvement of 91 seconds on his performance on this course earlier this season. Costello's placement of 17th improves on his 20th-place finish from last year's edition of these championships, only bettered by his pre-illness top MAC finish in 6th place as a sophomore in the 2021 championships. Costello ran almost the entire race in isolation from any teammates, with Condon and Fetter up ahead, but maintained a remarkably consistent placement throughout the entire race. Costello opened up much more cautiously than his teammates with a 5:22 first mile, which placed him in 18th. Costello ran an excellent split during the downhill portion of the course, moving up to 16th by the 6k mark, and holding on to the finish to place inside the top 20 and provide a solid third score for the Falcons.
Freshman
Kaleb Kabakjian overcame injury to run an excellent race for the Falcons as the fourth Messiah finisher, just sneaking inside the top 20 in 20th place overall with a time of 27:27.5. Kabakjian tracked behind Costello very closely throughout the race after executing a planned more cautious opening to the race, passing through the first mile in 5:27.6 in 32nd place. Kabakjian moved up very well throughout the race while staying roughly 5 seconds behind Costello for most of the race, even catching up to his teammate briefly during the second half of the race. Kabakjian found himself in 26th place by halfway and moved up to 23rd at the 6k mark and 20th at the finish, demonstrating great progression throughout the race. Kabakjian also finished as the second freshman in the race, indicating great things to come in seasons to follow and a great performance today despite significant injury throughout the season.
Freshman
Jackson Kay rounded out the Falcons' top five with a 30th place finish, just sneaking inside the Third Team All-MAC top 30 as the final medalist in the field. Kay ran the entirety of the race with junior teammate
Tyler Billet, registering a split identical to that of his teammate on each of the 1 mile, 2.4 mile, and 6K timing mats. Kay and Billet moved up very well together throughout the race, coming across the mile 58th and 55th place respectively before moving up into the 40s at the halfway mark in the course. Kay had an excellent final two kilometers, splitting a time of 7:05.7 that stands out as exceptionally quick for most competitors finishing in his range to move up 9 places from 39th to 30th. Kay finished with a time of 27:51.6 while Billet finished closely behind with a time of 27:59.1, with Kay crossing the line in 30th place and Billet in 36th.
Junior
Nathaniel Coggins was the final member of the Falcons' team to register a score on the day, finishing as the seventh Messiah runner with a time of 27:59.9, a time that stands as exactly a one minute improvement on his time on the same course earlier in the year. Coggins and senior teammate
Josh Bauman ran the entire race together, just as the duo has done during the past two races, moving up incredibly throughout the race. Coggins and Bauman opened up in 5:40 for the first mile, which placed the duo in 62nd and 63rd place, before moving very well during the next 1.4 miles. The two registered splits of 13:46 at the 2.4 mile mark, placing them in 47th and 48th, and continued to move up well throughout the field with an especially quick last 2k. Coggins surged ahead during the final stretch to place 37th overall, with Bauman close behind in 41st place overall with a time of 28:07.4.
Lance Kauffman was the ninth Falcon across the line with a time of 28:55.7, running a solid race in isolation from any teammates. Kauffman began his race with a time of 5:45.6 for his first mile in 83rd place before moving up to 64th place at the halfway split of the course and maintaining that exact place through the 6k mark and at the finish. Kauffman's time stands as an improvement of 34 seconds on his time at the Messiah Invitational, demonstrating great improvement over the last month.
Sean Baxter and
Evan Sarkett were the final Falcons under 30 minutes on the day, with Baxter finishing with a time of 29:33.4 and Sarkett with a time of 29:37.4. Baxter went out quickly with Coggins and Bauman before being distanced by his teammates, but he carried on strongly to the finish to take 76th place overall. Sarkett went out very quickly with a 5:13 first mile as a part of a unique strategy that was ultimately rendered futile by Condon's unexpected surge to the front and leading of the race in the early stages. However, Sarkett still held on well to improve on his time from the Messiah Invitational earlier in the year by 13 seconds and take 78th place overall. Freshman
Bradley Kreider was the final Falcon racer to finish on the day, ending up with a time of 30:40.1.
What's Up Next
The top seven Falcons will return to action in two weeks at the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships, hosted on November 16th at Lock Haven University, which will conclude the season for the Falcons in all likelihood. Qualification for the NCAA DIII National XC Championships will be based on finishing placement at Regionals, as the top seven runners not a part of a team that receives a bid to Nationals will get to run at the National Championships. The Falcons finished in 6th place in the region last year and will look to match or exceed that performance in two weeks' time.
