SELINSGROVE, Pa. - The Messiah Men's Track and Field team competed well today amongst a slate of strong competition from Division III teams across Pennsylvania at the Susquehanna University Track & Field Invitational. The Falcons took home three event wins on the day alongside registering four new MAC qualifying performances and four additional Indoor Top Ten performances, an excellent array for a late season meet that continues to prepare the Falcons well for Indoor MACs.
 
On the Track
The Falcons will have one final race to prepare before the Middle Atlantic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in two weeks' time. The Falcons will return to action at the Golden Bear Invitational, hosted by Kutztown University, on Friday, Feb. 21, with Indoor MACs to follow on Feb. 28th and March 1st. The Falcons will look to get in any last-minute MAC qualifiers and compete one final time in preparation for the championships.
 
The first event on the track was the 5000 Meter Run, where Josiah Carnwath and Ryan Kelmick toed the line with the goal of helping Carnwath to qualify for MACs, which required a time of 16:29.19. Carnwath set a personal record time of 16:36.62, a personal best by over 7 seconds, falling just short of the MAC qualifying time but running a great race despite this with an excellent final lap. Klemick finished just behind his teammate with a time of 16:36.78, having qualified for MACs earlier in the season.
 
In the 60 Meter Hurdles, the Falcons were led by multi athlete Ben Reichenbach, who ran a personal record time of 9.60, beating his old best by over a second en route to qualifying for MACs in the event. Dunkerton finished close behind with a time of 9.73, with Jed Colyer rounding out the trio of multi athletes with a personal record time of 10.58. Directly afterwards, Joshua Karyea led the Falcons in the 60 Meter Dash as the team's sole representative, finishing with a time of 7.47 in the preliminary round. 
 
Nathan Kimmel was the top Falcon in the Mile, snagging a MAC qualifier in the event with a season-best time of 4:34.75, topping both the MAC qualifying time of 4:36.69 and his previous season best time of 4:37.83 with an excellent final 400 meters in 66 seconds. Josh Bauman made his return to racing with a season-best time of 4:44.21, with Matthew Rush and Zeke Colyer finishing close behind with respective season-best times of 4:46.36 and 4:46.60. 
 
The Falcons had a very strong series of races in the 400 Meter Dash, led by Zion Buck's personal record time of 52.15 that stands as an indoor personal best by over a second and lands him 10th on the Messiah All-Time Indoor Top Ten list by a margin of just 0.05 seconds. Sean Baxter also registered a new indoor personal record with a time of 52.65, beating his old best from a banked track by nearly two-tenths and coming within the same margin of his lifetime best. Will Xenakis finished just a few hundredths off his personal record with a 53.32 clocking, with Adam Hostetler finishing with a time of 54.13. Isaac Sobek rounded out the Falcons' efforts in the event, stopping the clock at a time of 56.85. 
 
The Falcons earned their first event win of the day in the 800 Meter Run, with Evan Sarkett leading the charge in a time of 1:57.24, very narrowly off his personal best in the event. Sarkett went out quickly with the leaders with a 57.61 first 400 meter split, taking the lead just before 600 meters as things slowed down up front and extending his lead with a sub-30 second last lap to the finish. Nathan Kimmel, returning from his excellent performance in the Mile, was the next Falcon finisher with a time of 2:06.54, while Eli McClymont ended with a time of 2:09.22. In what stood as one of three strong performances on the day for the multi athlete, Ben Reichenbach went out at an incredible split of 1:01.21 for his first 400 meters and survived home for a sub-2:10 clocking in 2:09.82, an incredible performance for an indoor heptathlete. Aidan Pryor finished right behind from another heat with a season-best time of 2:10.63. Caleb McInnes and Jed Colyer finished off the event for the Falcons with two indoor personal records, turning in respective clockings of 2:14.80 and 2:15.71. 
 
The Falcons also performed well in the 3000 Meter Run, with Bradley Kreider running his first hard-effort race since the cross country season to qualify for MACs by a wide margin and finish not far off his personal best with a time of 9:06.63. Kyle Costello also qualified for MACs in the 3000 Meter in his third crack at the event this season, eclipsing the 9:16.34 qualifying mark by a comfortable margin en route to a 9:11.74 finishing time. Tyler Billet ran near Costello for the first half of the race and ended up with a finishing time of 9:36.47, a time that still stands as a season-best by roughly half a second. Gus Rouland also finished very close to his personal best with a time of 9:47.67, a significant improvement on his time of 10:02.02 from the previous week. 
 
The 4x400 Meter Relay produced another highlight performance for the Falcons behind four excellent splits from a strong "A" team for the Falcons, with Sean Baxter, Adam Hostetler, Evan Sarkett, and Will Xenakis running a collective time of 3:31.56. All runners split between 52 and 53 seconds on their leg, with Xenakis turning in an incredible team-best split of 52.46. The Falcons' "B" team also performed well, finishing with a time of 3:54.13 behind the efforts of Eli McClymont, Aidan Pryor, Isaac Sobek, and Caleb McInnes. 
 
In the Field
 
Ben Reichenbach turned in perhaps his best performance of the day with his sensational 1.94 meters (6' 4.25") clearance in the High Jump, a jump that stands as a personal best by over two inches and vaults him to sixth on the Messiah All-Time Indoor Top Ten list. Reichenbach finished second in the event despite clearing the same height as the winner behind a countback on previous misses. Gavin Dunkerton also performed well in the event, clearing the bar at 1.79 meters (5' 10.5") that narrowly falls short of his personal best of 1.82 meters (5' 11.5"). 
 
Joshua Karyea served as the Falcons' sole representative on the day in the Pole Vault. Karyea finished with a strong clearance at 3.60 meters (11' 9.75"), his second best this season. 
 
The Weight Throw was another of the Falcons' best events on the day, with Hoyt Lechthaler earning a personal best of 16.10 meters (52' 10"), eclipsing his old best by three centimeters. Lechthaler also took home the win in the event, cementing his status as second on the Falcons' Indoor Top Ten list in the event and inching ever closer to the 2013 school record of 16.67 meters (54' 8.25") held by Fred Fulton. Ted Lechthaler finished behind his brother with a mark of 11.78 meters (38' 7.75") while freshmen Jake Holland and Anthony Russo finished with respective marks of 10.23 meters (33' 6.75") and 9.24 meters (30' 3.75"). 
 
Ted Lechthaler reprised his brother's efforts in the Weight Throw with a new personal best of his own in the Shot Put, finishing with a distance of 14.38 meters (47' 2.75") that places him back in fourth on the Messiah All-Time Indoor Top Ten list. Nathan Bowman, on the heels of his incredible performance last week, finished with a distance of 12.47 meters (40' 11"), while multi athlete Liam McGovern finished less than 10 centimeters off his lifetime best in the event with a best of 11.80 meters (38' 8.75"). Anthony Russo finished with a distance of 11.30 meters (37' 1"), with Jake Holland also coming close to his best with a put of 11.20 meters (36' 9"). Patrick Smith rounded out the Falcons' efforts with a best distance of 10.29 meters (33' 9.25"). 
 
Zion Buck had an excellent performance early on in the meet in the Long Jump, jumping a distance of 6.66 meters (21' 10.25") that sits just behind his personal record distance of 6.74 meters (22' 1.5"). Landon Kerr also finished with a personal record mark in the event, eclipsing his previous best of 6.07 meters (19' 11") by a single centimeter with a best distance of 6.08 meters (19' 11.5"), inching ever so closer to the 20 foot mark. Ben Reichenbach finished just a few centimeters off his collegiate best with a mark of 5.53 meters (18' 1.75"), with fellow multi athlete Gavin Dunkerton finishing with a distance of 5.25 meters (17' 2.75"). 
 
Zion Buck earned another event win for the Falcons on the day in the Triple Jump, finishing with a strong distance of 13.58 meters (44' 6.75"), taking the win by nearly two feet. Landon Kerr also submitted a strong performance with a distance of 12.50 meters (41' 0.25").
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will have one final race to prepare before the Middle Atlantic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in two weeks' time. The Falcons will return to action at the Golden Bear Invitational, hosted by Kutztown University, on Friday, Feb. 21, with Indoor MACs to follow on Feb. 28th and March 1st. The Falcons will look to get in any last-minute MAC qualifiers and compete one final time in preparation for the championships.
 

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