LOGAN, N.J. - The Messiah Women's Cross Country team had a fantastic race today at the Rowan Border Battle, hosted by Rowan University at the Gloucester County DREAM park in Logan Township, New Jersey. The Falcons turned in a number of quick times on the gently rolling course, with cloudy weather and dry terrain enabling a series of great performances. The Falcons finished in 10th place as a team amongst a very competitive field with a score of 291 points, finishing behind conference and regional rival Lebanon Valley College (fifth place, 251 points) by a small number of points but several places due to the tightly packed nature of the finishing scores. The Falcons outperformed their regional ranking of seventh, however, by defeating Mid-Atlantic Region No. 5 Salisbury (13th place, 338 points), and they also finished ahead of Moravian (12th place, 326 points), ranked third in the neighboring Metro region.  The Falcons steadily moved up as a team throughout the race, passing through the first mile in 13th place before dropping 59 points throughout the remainder of the race to pass three teams. The Falcons registered a top five total time of 1:55:09 (average time of 23:01), by far their fastest total in at least the last four seasons that significantly surpasses last year's best average time of 23:19. Today's race at Rowan sets the Falcons up very well for postseason success behind an excellent final regular season race, full of personal records and season bests.

The Falcons will return to action after Fall Break by toeing the line at the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships, their first postseason race. The top 12 Falcons will have the privilege of competing at MACs on Saturday, November 1st, at Delaware Valley College. The Falcons will look to continue their strong performances throughout the season and utilize the confidence gained from today's stellar races to race their best across the rest of the MAC. 

Race Action
Action on the day was split across two races, with the top 10 Falcons toeing the line in the Championship Race and the rest of the team taking their place in the open race. 
Ella Swayne led the Falcons for the fifth time this season, running an incredible new personal best time of 21:54.7 to surpass her previous best from the last race, itself a personal record by nearly a minute, by a further 21 seconds. Swayne began the race at a lightning pace, allowing the insane competition of the day to bring her through the first mile in a time of 5:44 in 26th place overall. Incredibly, Swayne moved up in the field significantly even after her blazing first split, ultimately passing 14 competitors to finish in 12th place overall behind a strong second mile that was also under six minutes. Swayne also closed very quickly, cementing her incredible performance with a time of under 22 minutes.

Delaney Turk was the second Falcon to cross the line, also running a sizable personal record time with a 22:14.1 clocking that surpasses her lifetime best from the previous race by 16 seconds. Turk also went out very quickly in trailing Swayne, beginning her race with a 5:50 mile split in 40th place before splitting her next two miles in just over six minutes each as the competition unfolded. Turk closed her last .73 mile segment of the race in an identical time to Swayne, enabling her to move up to 23rd place overall by the finish, a wonderful second score for the Falcons.

Madison Kimmel ran a fantastic race to set a new personal best time by three seconds, just eclipsing her season-ending performance from last year with a new lifetime best of 23:07.8. Kimmel ran more boldly in the opening stages than in her last race, passing through the first mile in a time of 6:04. Her efforts were rewarded as Kimmel continued on at a quicker pace throughout the remainder of the race, averaging 6:20 pace for her two middle miles before closing hard to finish in 68th place overall.

Kenzee Wiker was the fourth Falcon across the line, continuing the trend of personal records on the team with a stellar 38-second improvement on her personal record effort from the previous race. Wiker set a new personal record time of 23:37.9 on the day behind a swift opening mile of 6:11, thereafter running very consistently alongside her competitors and steadily moving up throughout the rest of the race. Wiker's mile split found her in 106th place within a huge field, a placement on which she improved by passing 13 bodies before the finish to place 93rd overall.

Elana Pineda had a fantastic race to finish as the final contributor to the Falcons' team score in fifth, running a season best by over 90 seconds and drawing within 45 seconds of her lifetime best from the previous season. Pineda began her race alongside teammates Samanatha Mynio and Allison Keller with a 6:22 opening mile before surging as the race unfolded alongside Mynio to pass 31 competitors before the next timing mat. Pineda and Mynio remained side-by-side until the final kilometer, when Pineda pulled ahead during the final stretch. Pineda finished with a time of 24:15.8, while Mynio finished right behind as the sixth Falcon with a time of 24:20.5. 

Emmie Battersby was the next Falcon finisher to cross the line, finishing just three seconds adrift of her personal record time set two weeks ago at Paul Short. Battersby began her race very quickly with a 6:16 mile, trailing her freshman teammate Wiker closely. The quick early pace began to make itself evident as the race continued on, but Battersby ran strongly in isolation from any teammates to register a time of 24:41.0 to finish as the seventh Falcon. Aubrey Yeager also ran a fantastic race to finish close behind Battersby, clocking a time of 24:49.7 to set a sizable season best and draw within 10 seconds of her personal best time. Yeager began her race more cautiously than the rest of her teammates with a 6:29 opening mile, moving up very well throughout the race to finish under 25 minutes.

Allison Keller, who began her race with Pineda and Mynio, ran an excellent race in trailing her teammates to finish with a new personal best time of 25:08.4. Keller narrowly eclipsed her previous lifetime best of 25:13 behind a quick opening mile of 6:23, which enabled her to hold onto her personal record pace during the miles to come. 

In the open race, Ava Shirk led the way for the Falcons, running a huge season best time of 24:51.1 to eclipse her previous best this season by over a minute and draw within 70 seconds of her best set last season. Shirk began her race with teammate Meagan Kime, with the duo opening up their race in a very sensible 6:41 mile and running together through two miles before Shirk split an incredible 6:33 on her third mile. Shirk carried on strongly to the finish to finish under 25 minutes, passing an incredible 34 competitors throughout the competition. Kime was the next Falcon to finish in a personal record time of 25:45.4, with her early efforts in racing with Shirk being rewarded with a 7-seconds personal best. 

Elizabeth Anthony was the third Falcon finisher in the open race behind a massive personal record time of 25:58.8, a time that enabled the junior to skip the 26s altogether in improving upon her 27:21.3 personal best from the previous race. Anthony was closely followed by teammate Jenna Sobek, who ran a personal best time of her own of 26:33.9. Olivia Miller also turned in a fantastic performance for the Falcons, running a time of 27:04.8 that stands as a season best by over two minutes. Grace Bath was the final Falcon under 28 minutes, just dipping under thanks to a swift finish that allowed her to stop the clock at 27:59.8.

Kelsey Hoffman ran a strong race for the Falcons to finish with a new personal best time of 28:11.4 despite a lengthy bout of illness, with Abi Ferry also finishing with a personal record time of 28:12.1 just behind her teammate. Lexi Lapp was the next Falcon to cross the line, ending up as the final Messiah racer under 30 minutes with a huge season best time of 29:36.7. Katie Gardner finished narrowly outside of that barrier with a season record time of 30:20.4, while Lia Widenhofer rounded out the Falcons' efforts with a personal best time of 32:21.2.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will return to action after Fall Break by toeing the line at the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships, their first postseason race. The top 12 Falcons will have the privilege of competing at MACs on Saturday, November 1st, at Delaware Valley College. The Falcons will look to continue their strong performances throughout the season and utilize the confidence gained from today's stellar races to race their best across the rest of the MAC.