READING, Pa. - The Messiah Women's Track and Field team had an incredible meet today at the Alvernia Winter Invitational in their second meet of the season and their first in over a month back from Winter Break. The Falcons performed strongly against other teams in the Middle Atlantic Conference as well as several Division II foes from around the state on the site of the MAC Indoor T&F Championships, preparing them very well for the MAC Championships that will be held at the end of February. The Falcons had three performances that earned placements on the Messiah Indoor All-Time Top Ten List as well as 10 additional MAC Qualifications.

The Falcons are next in action on Friday, Jan. 24, when they travel to Philadelphia, PA to compete at the Winter Invite at UPenn, hosted by Widner University.
 
On the Track
The Falcons ran away with the win in the first event of the day, the 4x800 Meter Relay, with Kerrigan Lebo, Elana Pineda, Meagan Kime, and Madison Kimmel making up the winning team. The quartet ran a time of 10:13.29 to win by a margin of over 20 seconds, with Pineda's 2:26 split on the second leg serving as a highlight for the team.
 
The Falcons also had three competitors in the five-person race that was the 5000 Meter Run, with all three finishing with indoor personal record times. Aubrey Yeager finished as the top of the trio with a time of 20:42.53, while Grace Bath finished second with a time of 22:25.00 and Elizabeth Anthony concluded the Falcons' efforts with a time of 22:52.11. 
 
One of the highlights on the day took place in the 60 Meter Hurdles, with Kara Brown finishing in third place in the preliminary round with a new personal record time of 9.44. Brown's time improves on her own seventh-best mark of All Time for the Falcons and stands as a feat she nearly replicated in the final, where she ended up with a time of 9.46 en route to a second place finish overall in the event. Elizabeth Voegele was the second Falcon in the event and returned from her absence on the track with a MAC-qualifying time of 10.49.
 
The Falcons were equally successful in the 60 Meter Dash, with Halle Jennett running a personal record and MAC-qualifying time of 8.03 in the preliminary round to earn a place in the final, improving her standing on the Messiah Indoor Top Ten list from fifth to fourth. Arwyn Gruenwald also ran a solid time in the first round of 8.15, with Sarah Cramer making her debut as a Falcon and finishing with a time of 9.12.
 
In the Mile, the Falcons were led by Madison Kimmel and Kayra DeVries, who ran the entirety of their races together and finished with respective times of 5:42.64 and 5:43.27. DeVries led her teammate throughout the first half of the race before Kimmel passed her teammate and led DeVries through the latter stages of the race, with DeVries attacking again on the home stretch but Kimmel surging away to narrowly finish as the top Falcon. Kimmel qualified for MACs by a margin of .20 seconds, while DeVries finished with an indoor personal record. Olivia Miller and Allison Keller also finished closely together, with Miller finishing in an indoor personal record time of 6:04.47 and Keller with a time of 6:06.32 that stands very close to her personal record. Kelsey Hoffman ran with Keller for the first half of the race and finished with an indoor personal record of 6:32.74, while Lexi Lapp ended up with a time of 7:01.10.
 
The Falcons also fielded a strong team for the 4x200 Meter Relay, with Arwyn Gruenwald, Halle Jennett, Clara Benner, and Kara Brown representing the Falcons. The team finished in fourth place overall with a time of 1:51.09, finishing just half a second behind a placement on the Indoor Top Ten list.
 
Another highlight on the day came in the 800 Meter Run, with Elana Pineda finishing as the top Falcon and in second place overall with an indoor personal record time of 2:24.35, easily qualifying her for MACs. Meagan Kime also finished with an indoor personal record time of 2:34.34 after both runners doubled back from the 4x800 Meter Relay, making both especially impressive performances for the two freshmen. Juliette Safer was the next Falcon to finish with a strong performance in a time of 2:36.47, while Isabela Rodriguez made her return to the track with a great run and a finishing time of 2:38.80. Linnea Haney also turned in a 2:52.74 clocking, while Abigail Smith registered a finishing time of 3:14.80 in rounding out the Falcons' efforts. 
 
Halle Jennett continued her excellent performances on the day with a second-place finish in the 200 Meter Dash, finishing with a MAC qualifying time of 26.37 that stands just a couple of hundredths behind her indoor personal record. 
 
The Falcons had an incredible assortment of competitors in the 3000 Meter Ryn, with a strong trio of several of the Falcons' top racers from cross country competing together in the final individual running event of the day. Delaney Turk, Ella Swayne, and Ava Shirk ran together for the first kilometer of the race before Turk gapped both teammates slightly, with Swayne following the move a bit closer than Shirk. Turk's gap continued to expand until around halfway, when Swayne began to chip away just slightly at Turk's lead with each passing lap as both continued to gain on Shirk. At the bell, Swayne had caught up to Turk, but her progress ultimately proved to be illusory as Turk accelerated away over the final 200 meters with her fastest lap of the race to place as the top of the trio in a time of 11:07.35. Swayne followed her teammate closely across the finish line with an excellent time of 11:09.07, with Shirk also closing strongly and ending with an incredible time of 11:13.55 off such a short training block. All three runners set indoor personal records and qualified for MACs by some margin. Julia Steel also ran an excellent race to finish with a time of 12:24.14, a time that narrowly stands as a season best, with Samantha Mynio not far behind in a time of 12:34.04. Lia Widenhofer and Alyssa Hershey also competed, finishing with respective times of 14:55.90 and 15:44.71.
 
The Falcons fielded a team for the 4x400 Meter Relay, with Clara Benner, Isabela Rodriguez, Kayra DeVries, and Linnea Haney carrying the baton for the Falcons. The team finished in seventh overall with a time of 4:38.99, with Benner's opening split of 1:06.20 serving as the team's best.
 
In the Field
Kara Brown was the sole Falcon to compete in the High Jump, which kicked off action in the field. Brown tied her collegiate best indoors with a first-time clearance at 1.50 meters, easily surpassing the MAC qualifying standard and bringing her into a tie for fifth place in the event.
 
Hannah Witter continued her incredible series of competitions dating back to last year with another huge personal record of 3.50 meters (11' 5.75") in the Pole Vault, her second personal record in two competitions so far this year and a new best by a margin of 14 centimeters. Witter's vault earned her a fifth-place finish in the event amongst an exceptionally strong field along with an improvement from fourth to second on the Messiah Indoor All-Time Top Ten list, placing her just five centimeters off the school record, which stands at 3.55 meters (11' 7.75"). Rachel Hartman also competed for the Falcons, finishing with a new collegiate best height of 2.30 meters (7' 6.5"). 
 
The Falcons also benefited from having a large contingent in the throwing events, the first of which was the Shot Put. Leah Ferster led the Falcons in the event, throwing for a distance of 10.33 meters (33' 10.75"). Avya Sechman was the next Falcon in the finishing order, throwing for a new personal best in the event by a single centimeter, surpassing her old best of 9.66 meters (31' 8.25") with a throw of 9.67 meters (31' 8.75"). Leah Ritzman threw a mark of 9.28 meters (30' 5.25"), while Kara Brown threw a distance of 9.02 meters. Ella Axtell rounded out the Falcons' efforts with a mark of 9.00 meters (29' 6.25"). 
 
In the Weight Throw, sophomore Jaclyn Steenstra threw for a new season-best distance of 10.94 meters (35' 10.75"). Leah Ferster finished close behind with a mark of 10.60 meters (34' 9.25"). Sidney Avers made her debut in the event, throwing a MAC qualifying distance of 9.62 meters (31' 6.75"). 
 
Up Next
After a series of stellar performances on both the track and in the field, the Falcons will anticipate with excitement and readiness their next competition hosted by Widener at the University of Pennsylvania's indoor track. The meet, held on Friday, Jan. 24th, will be hosted amongst very strong competition on a banked indoor track, providing the Falcons with an excellent opportunity to improve on their strong performances from today with plenty of time left until the postseason races to follow the season.

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