LANCASTER, Pa. - The Messiah Men's Track and Field team began their indoor track and field season Friday at the Franklin & Marshall Diplomat Open, their first and only meet of the Fall semester. The Falcons turned in a number of very strong performances, including two new marks on the Indoor Top Ten list and nine qualifications for the Middle Atlantic Conference Indoor T&F Championships, setting up the Falcons very well for the remainder of the season to begin in January.
Up next, the Falcons will continue their training over winter break in preparation for the remainder of the 2024-2025 season. Messiah will travel to Reading, Pa. on Saturday, January 18, to compete at the Alvernia Winter Invitational.
Track Action
The day began on the track with the preliminary races of the short sprints, with the 60 Meter Hurdle prelims first up on the schedule. Freshman
Will Xenakis ran a time of 10.00 in the high hurdles in his collegiate debut, competing as the only Falcon in the event and finishing just off qualifying for the final in 11th place overall. The Falcons also had several compete in the 60 Meter Dash, with
Gavin Dunkerton leading the charge with a time of 7.52. Upperclassmen
Austin Grove and
Josh Karyea also made their Messiah track and field debuts in the 60 Meter Dash with respective times of 7.86 and 8.45.Â
The 5000 Meter Run was next up on the track, with
Kyle Costello finishing as the top Falcon with a time of 15:59.34, well ahead of the MAC qualifying standard. Costello just snuck under 16 minutes by picking up his pace on the final two laps, allowing him to hold off competitors behind and finish in fifth place overall.
Zeke Colyer, running as the top seed of the second heat, had a spectacular race to finish with a searing last 200 meters. Colyer passed two competitors in the final lap, allowing him to earn the heat victory with a time of 16:29.64, less than half a second outside the MAC qualifying time.
Lance Kauffman was the next Falcon to finish with a solid time of 16:43.06 behind a very consistent race, with
Tyler Billet crossing the line soon after in a time of 16:54.43.
Nathan Seibert was the final Falcon to compete on the day in the 5000 Meter Run, running an indoor personal best time of 17:07.87 from the second heat.
Sean Baxter led the Falcons in the 800 Meter Run, winning his heat convincingly behind an exceptionally strong surge in the last 200 meters that immediately put a gap on all his competitors in the race. Baxter, a junior, finished with a time of 2:07.86 that stands as his fastest ever season-opening time in the 800 Meter Run. Freshman
Will Keane ran a time of 2:13.61 in his collegiate debut, while
Jed Colyer ran a time of 2:17.65 with a very strong close in his first ever 800 Meter race. Freshman
Caleb McInnes crossed the line with a time of 2:24.94 after a very quick opening lap of 1:04 from the first heat.
One of the most interesting races of the day occurred in the Mile, where the bell signaling the start of the final lap was rung a lap early, causing chaos in the field over the final two laps.
Evan Sarkett managed to finish with an indoor personal best time of 4:36.94, less than half a second off the MAC qualifying time, despite kicking during the penultimate lap and running his second-to-last lap four seconds faster than the last. Sarkett finished fifth overall, managing a very strong placement amongst a very competitive field. Freshman
Daniel Satariano ran a time of 4:52.81 behind a strong final 400m after coming through 1200 meters right on five minute pace, allowing him to finish with an indoor personal best for the full Mile.
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The 400 Meter Dash was also a highlight of the meet for the Falcons, with freshmen
Zion Buck and
Will Xenakis dueling with senior
Adam Hostetler in heat three for status as the top Falcon. Buck went out very quickly before being reeled in by Hostetler and Xenakis, with Hostetler passing his teammates during the final stretch before Buck surged back in the final meters. Buck was given the nod as the top Falcon as both broke 54 seconds, with Buck finishing in a time of 53.95 and Hostetler in 53.97, indoor personal best times for both. Xenakis finished just behind with a time of 54.14, also an indoor personal best. Buck and Hostetler both qualified for MACs in the 400 Meter Dash, narrowly besting the qualifying time of 53.98.Â
Austin Grove had the designation of being the only Falcon to compete in the 200 Meter Dash, finishing with a strong time of 26.09.
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The 3000 Meter Run was another extremely exciting event to watch, with
John Condon placing second overall in a time of 8:54.30. Condon began the race steadily with his other competitors, coming through the first kilometer in a time of 3:02 and the second in a time of 3:00. By the time just one kilometer remained, a small gap had formed between Condon and the front two racers, with Condon several seconds behind the duo coming into the final two laps. Condon finished strongly with a final two laps of 34 and 32 seconds, drawing even with the second-place racer during the final stretch and just out-dipping him at the line by a margin of 0.04 seconds to finish in second. In the other heat, the Falcons had a strong contingent, with
Gus Rouland leading a quartet of Falcons who finished one after the other, all in personal best times. As mentioned, Rouland led the charge with a personal best time of 9:45.20, just outkicking
Josiah Carnwath in the final stretch after the sophomore pushed the pace for much of the second half of the race. Carnwath finished just behind with a time of 9:45.77, with
Ryan Klemick and
Matthew Rush also running strong races to finish with respective times of 9:47.04 and 10:01.01.
The 4x400 Meter Relay was the final event on the track, with the Falcons fielding two different teams. The first team of Falcons, made up of
Nathan Kopp,
Daniel Satariano,
Will Xenakis, and
Adam Hostetler, finished with a time of 3:37.78, highlighted by splits of roughly 53.7 from Xenakis and 52.9 from Hostetler. The Falcons' second team, composed of
Sean Baxter,
Will Keane,
Caleb McInnes, and
Evan Sarkett, finished with a time of 3:46.14 behind an anchor split of roughly 52.5 from Sarkett.
In The Field
Hoyt Lecthaler produced one of the strongest performances of the day for the Falcons in the field events, tossing the weight to a new personal best distance of 15.17 meters. Lechthaler's performance substantially bests his previous PR of 14.91 meters, improving upon his own second-best mark in school history.
Ted Lechthaler also competed in the Weight Throw, finishing with a mark of 10.78 meters.
Jake Holland finished close behind in his college debut with a length of 10.33 meters.
Ted Lechthaler turned in a standout performance for the Falcons in the Shot Put, finishing third overall in the competition with a new personal best mark of 13.65 meters. Lechthaler's mark improved him from sixth on the Messiah Indoor Top Ten list to fifth, a great sign of things to come for the sophomore so early in the season.
Jake Holland finished with a mark of 11.72 meters, finishing atop a trio of freshman debutants also made up of
Patrick Smith and
Anthony Russo. The latter two finished with marks of 11.19 meters and 11.05 meters.
Jed Colyer, an aspiring decathlete, also competed in the Shot Put, finishing with a mark of 8.78 meters.
Zion Buck preceded his standout performance in the 400 Meter Dash with another in the Long Jump. Buck set a new indoor personal record mark in the Long jump with a distance of 6.29 meters, qualifying easily for Indoor MACs and coming in fourth place overall in the competition.
Landon Kerr also turned in a strong performance, with a distance of 6.01 meters, qualifying him for MACs in the event and finishing just six centimeters behind his personal record in the event.
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Landon Kerr also competed strongly in the Triple Jump with a mark of 12.29 meters, a very strong season opener for the senior that stands as his second MAC qualification of the day. Kerr was the only Falcon to compete in the event on the day, finishing in fourth place overall.
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Landon Kerr completed his triple in the jumps with a height of 1.72 meters in the High Jump, falling just a centimeter short of earning a third MAC qualification on the day.
Liam McGovern finished with a height of 1.62 meters in the event, tying his lifetime personal record from last year's outdoor season.
In the final event of the day, Joshua Karyea finished with a height of 3.49 meters in his collegiate debut in Pole Vault.
What's Up Next
After the conclusion of the fall semester and winter break, the Falcons will return to action at the Alvernia Winter Invitational, held on Saturday, January 18th. The entirety of the team will look to be in action at that meet at the start of the Spring semester after a number of absences today, with the rest hoping to build off today's strong performances.
