SELINSGROVE, Pa. - The Messiah Women'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 an event win behind Ella Swayne's efforts in the 5000 Meter Run alongside a new MAC qualifying performance for Olivia Miller in the 5000 Meter Run and an additional Indoor Top Ten performance from Madison Kimmel in the 3000 Meter Run, in which she placed third overall. The Falcons' excellent distance performances encapsulated a very strong day with a number of personal records, constituting an overall excellent showing that continues to prepare the Falcons well for Indoor MACs.
 
On the Track
The first event of the day on the track was also one of the highlights for the Falcons, with a slew of strong performances in the 5000 Meter Run boosting the Falcons' efforts for the rest of the meet. Ella Swayne led the charge for the Falcons in the event, winning the event in an incredible personal record time of 18:43.62, shattering her old personal record performance from two weeks ago by a margin of 24 seconds. Swayne ran with Delaney Turk throughout the first three kilometers at a pace just under 19 minutes but picked it up significantly after that point and used an incredible last 200 meters of 37.98 to pass the leader and hold on for the win. Turk finished with a time of 19:18.43, about 14 seconds adrift of her personal record time set two weeks ago. Close behind, Olivia Miller ran an incredible race to finish with a time of 20:15.29, a performance that stands as a personal record by 25 seconds and smashes the MAC qualifying time of 20:27.23. Samantha Mynio also finished with a time of 21:04.72, a significant improvement over her race from the previous week.
 
The 60m hurdles was another strong performance for the Falcons, with Kara Brown finishing as the top Falcon and qualifying for finals with a time of 9.58. Clara Benner finished with a time of 10.28 in the event, finishing just off her season-best in the event of 10.12. Kara Brown improved on her time in the prelims while racing in the finals, finishing in 4th place overall with a time of 9.44, just five hundredths off her personal best time. 
 
The top two Falcon racers in the 60 Meter Dash, Halle Jennett and Arwyn Gruenwald, ran excellent races with respective times of 8.13 and 8.17 to finish just off qualifying for the final with placements of ninth and 11th in the preliminary round. Both times stand roughly a tenth of a second off each runner's season-best, standing as proof of solid consistency in the event for both runners this season. Sara Cramer also competed in the 60 Meter Dash, ending with a time of 9.23.
 
The Falcons had two competitors in the Mile, with Kelsey Hoffman finishing as the top of the duo in a new collegiate best time of 6:19.88 that improves upon her race from a month ago by a margin of 13 seconds. Abigail Smith finished with a time of 7:11.81 in her collegiate debut in the event. 
 
The Falcons also had a duo represent Messiah in the 400 Meter Dash, with Clara Benner finishing as the top Messiah runner with a time of 1:04.29, another time in a series of 1:04 clockings for the junior that evince incredible consistency across time in the event. Sophia Nurse raced in the 400 Meter Dash in what served as her collegiate debut in the event, finishing with a time of 1:08.48. 
 
The Falcons had a much larger contingent in the 800 Meter Run, with Meagan Kime taking the top honors with an indoor personal best time of 2:28.84 behind a searing last lap of 35.82. Kerrigan Lebo finished very close behind from another heat with a time of 2:29.54, a performance that stands as her fourth time 2:30 or faster in the event on the year. Katie Garnder also finished with an indoor personal best time in the 800 Meter, improving on her time from last week by a quarter of a second en route to a 2:41.78 clocking. Julia Kurayev and Linnea Haney finished very close together with respective times of 2:46.78 and 2:46.95, with the former runner finishing with an indoor personal record and the latter running a sizable season-best.
 
Arwyn Gruenwald was the top Falcon finisher in the 200 Meter Dash with her first sub-27 clocking this season, finishing with a time of 26.91 that sits just over a tenth of a second outside of her indoor personal best. Kara Brown also ran an excellent season-best time in the 200 Meter Dash with a 28.46 clocking, rounding out the Falcon duo's performances in the event.
 
The 3000 Meter Run was an equally exceptional event for the Falcons' distance squad after the 5000 Meter in the morning, with Madison Kimmel running an excellent personal best time of 10:44.32 to sneak inside the Messiah All-Time Indoor Top Ten list in ninth, clearing the barrier to entry by about a second and a half. Kimmel ran a very even race and closed with a 39 second last 200 meter, just moving her up into third place in the event and securing her spot on the All-Time list. Close behind, Ava Shirk ran a solid time of 11:13.21, while Aubrey Yeager was the final Falcon under 12 minutes with a time of 11:49.25, a great time for her debut in the event. 
 
The second heat of the 3000 Meter had an incredible seven Falcons, with Julia Steel finishing as the top of the group with a time of 12:27.28, finishing very similarly to her two other 3000 Meter races this year. Grace Bath followed in very close order with an incredible personal record clocking of 12:28.81, improving upon her old personal record by 16 seconds. Elizabeth Anthony also ran very strongly to cross the line with a time of 12:52.48, finishing just behind her sizable personal record time from last week's competition. Lexi Lapp also ran a very strong first half of her race to finishing with a season best by a margin of nearly 20 seconds, ending up with a time of 13:22.18. Abi Ferry, Lia Widenhofer, and Alyssa Hershey all ran very well to turn in indoor personal best performances with respective times of 13:33.64, 14:20.33, and 15:05.61. 
 
The Falcons ran a single team in the 4x400 Meter Relay, with Clara Benner, Meagan Kime, Linnea Haney, and Kerrigan Lebo ending up with a time of 4:32.79 behind a team-best split of 1:04.55 by Benner.
 
In the Field
The Falcons had their strongest performances in the field today in the throws, with Leah Ferster throwing for a new personal record distance of 10.88 meters (35' 8.5") in the Shot Put to vault herself into ninth on the Messiah All-Time Indoor Top Ten list. Leah Ritzman finished close behind with a distance of 10.09 meters (33' 1.25"), while Ella Axtell threw for a distance of 9.12 meters (29' 11.75"). Kara Brown also had a strong performance in the event, finishing with a distance of 8.88 meters. 
 
The Falcons were similarly successful in the Weight Throw, with Leah Ferster once again leading the Falcons with a throw of 13.45 meters (44' 1.5"), a strong season best performance. Jaclyn Steenstra also finished narrowly behind her personal best with a distance of 13.09 meters (42' 11.5"), while Sidney Avers was the next Falcon in the finishing order with a mark of 9.97 meters (32' 8.5"). Ella Axtell concluded the event for the Falcons with a throw of 9.29 meters (30' 5.75"). 
 
Olivia Call competed for the Falcons in the Triple Jump in her return from injury. Call jumped a distance of 9.25 meters (30' 4.25"), a great starting point after such a long absence due to injury. 
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will have one final competition 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 to follow the next weekend at Kutztown, with Indoor MACs fast approaching.

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