LANCASTER, Pa. - The Messiah Men's Track & Field team had a successful first meet to open their indoor track season at Franklin & Marshall's Diplomat Open, hosted on Friday, Dec. 5. The Falcons' efforts were highlighted by two All-Time Indoor Top Ten performances alongside 18 Falcons punching their ticket to the Middle Atlantic Conference championships with MAC-qualifying performances. The Falcons also took the win in four different events, showcasing their competitiveness with the rest of the 14 other teams in attendance.
The Falcons will resume their season after Winter break and will compete next at the Alvernia Winter Invitational on Saturday, January 17.
On The Track
The 5000 Meter Run opened the finals for the day on the track, with the distance also standing as the first event win for the Falcons. Senior
Louka Fetter led the field, maintaining school record pace through the first half of the race before just hanging on to win in a MAC-qualifying time of 15:08.27. Teammate
Kaleb Kabakjian provided the tallest challenge, passing and leading Fetter in the latter stages of the race before finishing just behind in second place after a sprint finish with a MAC-qualifying time of 15:09.64. Kabakjian's time stands as a sizable personal record, indoor or outdoor, and places him seventh all time on the Falcons' Indoor 5000 Meter list.
Samuel Hennett also finished with a personal record and MAC qualifying time of 15:41.65, while
Josiah Carnwath finished under the MAC qualifying time with an indoor personal record of 16:15.93.
Ryan Klemick and
Zeke Colyer finished closely together just outside of the conference qualifier with respective times of 16:31.29 and 16:34.05. From the third heat,
Jared Walker led the Falcons with a lifetime best of 17:31.15, followed closely by
Samuel Mateer (17:46.53) and
Gavin Coggins (18:51.76).
The 800 Meter Run supplied the Falcons with their second win on the day.
John Condon ran a fantastic race, blitzing the field from the start and stringing out the race convincingly en route to a dominant 1:56.93 season opener, qualifying him for MACs.
Sean Baxter overcame a slower start to finish with an exceptional close, drawing near to Condon by the finish with an indoor personal record and MAC-qualifying time of 1:57.50 in second place.
Evan Sarkett also qualified for MACs with a 2:01.95 performance, with the Falcons' efforts in the event concluded by
Nathaniel Coggins' 2:06.54 clocking.
Daniel Erikson ran very strongly in the 60 Meter Hurdles in his first race as a Falcon, finishing with a MAC qualifying time of 9.17. This performance, the only one by a Falcon over hurdles, placed him just outside of qualification for the event's finals.
In the 60 Meter Dash,
Zach Schwartz lead the way behind two impressive times in both the preliminary and final round. Schwartz blitzed a time of 7.21 in the preliminary round, qualifying him for MACs and vaulting him to fourth all time as a Falcon in just his first collegiate race. Schwartz improved further to finish in fourth place in the final behind a time of 7.14, improving his fourth all-time mark by seven hundredths and drawing him within a single hundredth of the Falcons' all-time top three. In the preliminary round,
Valen Shrum-Groff was the second Falcon across the line with a time of 7.34, followed by
Cooper Schwartz in a time of 7.38. Multi athlete
Liam McGovern registered a personal record of 7.48, followed by fellow multi
Jed Colyer (7.57) and
Jack Safer (7.71).
Declan Hsieh closed the event for the Falcons with a sizable personal record of 7.86, his first collegiate race under eight seconds.
In the Mile, the Falcons were led by a strong finish from
Daniel Satariano, who fell just a second short of his lifetime best with a 4:46.27 clocking. Behind a furious 28.7 closing 200 meter,
Nathaniel Coggins finished as the second Falcon with a time of 4:51.05 after an exceptionally quick turnaround from his 800 Meter race. Also under 5 minutes was
Matthew Rush, who registered a time of 4:53.17.
Celyn Evans (5:03.05) and
Larsen Cooper (5:07.56) also ran well for the Falcons.
Another highlight for the Falcons was an exceptional performance by
Will Xenakis in the 400 Meter Dash, setting a personal record by nearly a second with a 52.20 clocking. Xenakis' time sits just hundredths outside of an all-time top ten performance in just a season opener, easily surpassing each of his indoor races last season.
Zion Buck endured an untimely transition from Triple Jump to take his place in the 400 Meter Dash, turning in a performance of 55.54.
Much of the same Falcon contingent in the 60 Meter Dash also took their places in the 200 Meter Dash, with the group once again led by
Zach Schwartz. Schwartz ran a very strong time of 23.83, finishing just hundredths outside of both a MAC qualifying time as well as an all-time top ten performance over the distance. Schwartz was followed closely by
Valen Shrum-Groff (24.30) and
Jack Safer (24.94), with
Eli Reeder also turning in a 28.45 clocking for the Falcons.
The third event win for the Falcons came in the 3000 Meter Run, the final individual event of the day. Despite sitting well off the leaders' pace in the opening stages of the race,
Micah Kao and
Jacob Sahlstrom worked their way up expertly throughout the field as the race unfolded, taking the lead just as the duo entered the final 400 meters and holding on emphatically to finish 1-2 in the field. Kao finished with a fantastic time of 9:27.65 that stands as personal record by a sizable amount, with Sahlstrom close behind after a quick finish with a 9:29.91 clocking.
Jackson Kay ran well in his first ever indoor race to finish with a time of 9:46.65, with
Luke Acton (10:03.91) and Sam Meyer (10:29.26) also racing well for the Falcons.
The final event on the track also brought the Falcons' final event win, with an exceptional 4x400 Meter Relay team composed of
Will Xenakis,
Evan Sarkett,
John Condon, and
Sean Baxter earning a thrilling come-from-behind win by 0.02 to close the meet. The quartet finished with a time of 3:31.23 behind phenomenal 51.3 and 51.1 splits from Condon and Baxter, respectively, with Baxter making up an incredible gap to the finish during the course of his split to just outdip the opposing team's anchor at the line. The Falcons' collective time also places them ninth overall in program history in the Indoor 4x400 Meter Relay.
In the Field
The Falcons had a number of impressive performances in the field, highlighted by
Hoyt Lechthaler's second-place performance in the weight throw. Lechthaler opened his quest to achieve the school record with a MAC-qualifying distance of 15.90 meters (52' 2"), an astounding opener that puts him strongly in position to achieve this goal. Second amongst his teammates was
Jake Holland, who finished with a mark of 11.62 meters (38' 1.5"), while
Ted Lechthaler finished close behind with a distance of 11.50 meters (37' 8.75").
Gamaliel Perde also competed for the Falcons, finishing with a mark of 9.24 meters (30' 3.75").
Liam McGovern was the sole Falcon competitor in the Long Jump, submitting an exceptional season opener with a distance of 5.79 meters (19'). McGovern continued his busy day with a stellar personal best performance in the High Jump of 1.75 meters (5' 8.75"), a performance that qualifies him for MACs.
The Triple Jump had a trio of Falcons, with
Zion Buck leading the way behind a top MAC-qualifying jump of 12.98 meters (42' 7").
Joseph Dunbar bounded to a MAC-qualifying length of 11.70 meters (38' 4.25"), while
Declan Hsieh finished very close to his personal record with a top jump of 10.78 meters (35' 4.5").
In Pole Vault,
Ezra Zook was the top Falcon competitor with a height of 3.55 meters (11' 7.75").
Shot Put was the final field event, with
Ted Lechthaler leading the way for the Falcons with an excellent season opener of 13.62 meters (44' 8.25"), easily qualifying him for MACs.
Jake Holland also snuck past the MAC qualifying distance with a throw of 12.28 meters (40' 3.5"). Multi athletes
Liam McGovern and
Jed Colyer also performed well with top respective throws of 11.53 meters (37' 10") and 10.77 meters (35' 4") and were followed by
Luke Thompson (10.76 meters, 35' 3.75"),
Gamaliel Perde (10.03 meters, 32' 11"), and
Anthony Russo (10.01 meters, 32' 10.25").
Up Next
The Falcons will resume their season after Winter break and will compete next at the Alvernia Winter Invitational on Saturday, January 17.
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