KUTZTOWN, Pa. - On Friday, Feb. 21, the Messiah Women's Track and Field team split personnel between the Penn State Tune-Up Invitational and the Kutztown Golden Bear T&F Invitational, sending athletes to both events in a primary effort to chase fast times and strong performances at the former meet and MAC qualifying marks at the latter. Many Falcons also took the weekend off in preparation for Indoor MACs next week, with the Falcons collectively gearing up their performances for next week's competition.
 
Penn State Action
Five members competed at Penn State, featuring a strong assortment of events both on the track and in the field. 
 
Kara Brown ran an incredible race in her preliminary race of the 60 Meter Hurdles, finishing with a new personal best time of 9.34 to finish with the third-fastest qualifying time in the field and booking her ticket to the final. Brown's time, a personal record by 0.05 seconds, represents her fourth personal best this season and her fourth lowering of her own seventh best Messiah All-Time Indoor Top Ten mark, drawing just two hundredths of a second within overtaking the sixth-ranked athlete. Brown later finished in seventh place in the final with a time of 9.41 in a closely-packed field, a performance that stands as her third-fastest time ever.
 
The Mile was next, with Madison Kimmel and Ella Swayne toeing the line from different heats as the only Falcon in their respective races. Kimmel raced first in the second and faster of two heats, coming through the halfway point in her race with a time of 2:40.91 and battling through the isolation of no man's land during the second half of her race to end up with a finishing time of 5:28.59, about two seconds off her personal best. Ella Swayne, meanwhile, had a dominant win in her heat, the third of three in the Mile, beginning by going out very cautiously with the rest of the field in a halfway split of 2:52.40. After a very steady opening kilometer, Swayne took the lead with about 400 meters to go, immediately opening up a very large gap on her competitors and finishing with two laps of 39 and 38 seconds to win her heat by over six seconds and open up a sizable gap in a matter of 400 meters. Swayne finished with a time of 5:34.07, a personal best for the sophomore that also indicates ability to run a much faster time.
 
Kerrigan Lebo ran a very strong race as the last entrant in the first heat of the 800 Meter Run, running a very smart race to split her 400 meter segments 1:11.68 / 1:12.16 and running each one of her laps in either 35 or 36 seconds. Lebo ran patiently despite a quick start from many of her competitors, passing by the 200 meter and 400 meter mark in last in her heat. Lebo's quick second half allowed her to pass three competitors and earn a season best time by a margin of three seconds, a great breakthrough race in a season wrought by injury for so long in its earlier stages. Today's run puts Lebo in a great position heading into the MAC Championships, placing her inside the top eight in a scoring position on the MAC list.  
 
Halle Jennett ran the 200 Meter Dash for the Falcons as the final event on the track, finishing with a time of 25.87 that sits just narrowly off her own indoor personal best (25.79) and the school record (25.73), standing instead as Jennett's second-fastest time ever. 
 
Kutztown Results
At Kutztown, the rest of the Falcons ran very well throughout the meet despite its smaller, relaxed environment, with the Falcons doing their best both in competition and to add as much energy as possible. 
 
The first event on the track for the Falcons was the 400 Meter Dash, in which Sophia Nurse finished with a time of 1:09.70, just slightly adrift of her time from last week's competition. 
 
The Mile featured an incredible contingent of Falcons across two different heats - 12 racers across 23 starters, featuring more than half of the field. Kayra DeVries finished as the top of the group in her return to racing, finishing less than three seconds off her personal best set earlier this season despite the difficult conditions represented by the track. DeVries ran a steady race before picking it up significantly with a 39.40 last lap to move up from third to second, putting significant distance on her teammates and any other competitors. Olivia Miller was the second Falcon to dip under six minutes, ending up with a new indoor personal record time of 5:58.98. Aubrey Yeager and Samantha Mynio were the next Falcons to finish with respective times of 6:07.59 and 6:09.52, representing an indoor personal record for Yeager and a season best for Mynio. 
 
The next Falcon in the finishing order was Grace Bath, who ended up as the top finisher in the second heat with a very quick last 200 meter lap of 39 seconds, earning her the heat win by a margin of seven seconds despite only taking the lead at the bell. Bath finished with a time of 6:12.65, an indoor personal record. Allison Keller finished one spot behind with a time of 6:16.18 from the first heat after going out strongly in sub-six minute pace, continuing on with a strong second half despite running alone. Kelsey Hoffman finished second in the latter heat and as the next Falcon after running as leader for a good portion of the race with an indoor personal record time of 6:19.65. Hoffman's time just narrowly eclipsed her 6:19.88 personal record set during last week's competition at Susquehanna, earning her a new personal record in her last indoor race this season. Elizabeth Anthony finished next with a time of 6:36.53, a new indoor and collegiate best, while Lexi Lapp significantly improved upon her mile race from earlier this season with a new indoor personal record performance of 6:44.03. Abi Ferry, Lia Widenhofer, and Alyssa Hershey rounded out the Falcons' efforts on the day, finishing with respective times of 7:06.97, 7:19.00, and 7:27.35.
 
Elizabeth Voegele was the Falcons' sole competitor in the 55 Meter Hurdles, this meet's version of the normally contested 60 Meter Hurdles, finishing with a time of 9.89 to place second overall in the five-athlete heat.
 
The 800 Meter Run was the next and final event on the track, with the Falcons also making up seven of the 12 competitors in this event. Katie Gardner narrowly finished as the top Falcon in the event from the second heat, running a time of 2:42.01 to narrowly best 800 Meter Run debutant Clara Benner's personal best 2:42.02 clocking from the first heat. Gardner narrowly finished second in the slower heat, with Benner coming in third in the first heat, allowing the duo to finish fourth and fifth respectively overall. In her return to racing this year, Helen Blakeslee finished with a time of 2:47.60, with Julia Kurayev and Linnea Haney just behind with a time of 2:50.63 and 2:53.27. Abigail Smith and Julia Rickard rounded out the Falcons' efforts, running times of 3:13.95 and 3:19.59.
 
In the Field
A highlight of the meet for the Falcons came in the form of the Shot Put, where Freshman Leah Ritzman and Senior Leah Ferster set new respective personal best marks of 11.15 meters (36' 7") and 11.14 meters (36' 6.75"), placing the duo seventh and eighth on the All-Time Messiah Indoor Top Ten list. Ella Axtell also finished with a personal record mark of 9.78 meters (32' 4.75") further down in the finishing order.
 
The Falcons also performed well in the Weight Throw, with Jaclyn Steenstra taking top honors for the Falcons with a mark of 13.01 meters (42' 8.25") and Leah Ferster finishing one spot behind with a distance of 12.19 meters (40' 0"). Sidney Avers also performed very well with a huge new personal record mark of 10.73 meters (35' 2.5"), besting her old personal record by nearly a whole meter and placing her ninth on the All-Time Messiah Indoor Top Ten list. Ella Axtell also threw for a distance of 9.95 meters.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will compete next weekend across Friday, February 28th, and Saturday, March 1st, at the Middle Atlantic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, which mark both the culmination of the season and its conclusion as the Falcons look to peak and save their best performances for last. The MAC Championships will be hosted at the Plex on the campus of Alvernia University.
 

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