CHESTER, Pa. - The Messiah Women's Track and Field team had an incredible meet this weekend to open their outdoor season at the Danny Curran Invitational, competing very well amongst an assortment of competition from Division I, Division II, and Division III teams, both in and out of the conference. The two-day meet, hosted by Widener University, always promises especially fast distance performances as well as great performances in every other area, and this weekend did not disappoint. The Women's Track and Field team earned two new top ten entries in their outdoor opener, including one school record, as well as 21 MAC Qualifying marks already in the first meet. The team's performances this weekend serve as an incredible springboard for the rest of the outdoor season and energized the team for the meets to come.
 
On The Track
The Messiah Women's Track and Field team began the meet Friday night with a handful of events. The evening began in the 5000 Meter Run, which featured a number of quick performances and personal record times for the team. As of this article's publication, the official times were not available due to a timing error, but the times for each running reflected below are approximately accurate. Kayra DeVries ran an incredible race to win the third heat of the 5000
meter going away with a MAC-qualifying time of 19:36, running the first part of her race with the top pack in the race before blitzing the field and forging a huge lead en route to a dominant heat win. Grace Bath was the next Falcon to finish in an official personal record time of 21:35 that sits just outside of her unofficial personal record of 21:30, starting out cautiously with Elizabeth Anthony in the first half before speeding up significantly in the latter stages of the race. Abi Ferry employed the opposite racing strategy, going out very quickly and holding on for a huge personal record time of 21:45, smashing her collegiate best time of 23:02 as well as her lifetime personal record of 22:53.40. Elizabeth Anthony finished just outside of her lifetime best in the 5000 Meter with a time of 22:25, while Lia Widenhofer rounded out the Falcons' efforts with a time of 24:48, her first time under 25 minutes and a sizable personal record by 30 seconds.
 
One of the highlights on the track took place in the 10000 Meter Run, with Ella Swayne serving as the only Falcon in the race in the sophomore's debut in the event. Swayne ran an incredible race, finishing just two seconds outside of an All-Time Top Ten placement with a MAC-qualifying time of 38:47.44 to finish fifth in the event in a very deep field. Swayne began her race with a first half 5k split of 19:44 before closing her race in a sensational time of 19:03 for the second half, with her efforts being awarded with a very strong time under 39 minutes. 
 
The Falcons resumed their excellent efforts from the previous night in the 1500 Meter Run to open Saturday action. Madison Kimmel ran a very quick MAC-qualifying time of 4:58.73 in the 1500 Meter that stands just five seconds behind her collegiate best from Outdoor MACs last year. Linnea Haney was the next Falcon across the line with a time of 5:33.00, quicker than any of her times from last year and coming within five seconds of her collegiate best. Kelsey Hoffman also ran a strong race to turn in a time of 5:59.41, a performance about in line with her season-best time of 6:19.65 in the Mile during this indoor season. Lexi Lapp also ran a very quick time that sits just behind her collegiate best with a 6:11.54 clocking and was followed by Alyssa Hershey, who ran a time of 7:02.49. 
 
Kara Brown ran a great race as the Falcons' sole representative in the 100 Meter Hurdles, running a swift MAC-qualifying time of 15.88 in her season opener for the event. Brown's efforts were followed by a strong duo of Falcons in the 100 Meter Dash in the form of Halle Jennett and Arwyn Gruenwald, who clocked respective MAC-qualifying  times of 12.73 and 13.04 that stand not far off both racers' wind-legal PRs.
 
The Falcons had a very strong contingent in the 800 Meter Run as well, with Elana Pineda leading the charge with a very quick MAC-qualifying time of 2:22.14 that improves on her best during the indoor season by five-hundredths of a second. Kerrigan Lebo ran an incredible race as well especially considering her compromised training due to injury, improving significantly on her best during the indoor season with a MAC-qualifying time of 2:22.79 that she split very evenly. Meagan Kime was the next in the finishing order, earning a season-best time of 2:26.35 that also qualifies her for MACs en route to an intense duel for the heat win with another racer. Madison Kimmel also ran a great race after her 1500 Meter to finish with a time of 2:28.65 and was followed closely by the duo of Juliette Safer and Helen Blakeslee, who ran respective times of 2:33.23 and 2:35.79. Safer's time stands as her best outdoor time as a Falcon, while Blakeslee's time sits just three hundredths outside of her lifetime best despite it being her first race back from a lengthy absence due to injury. Katie Gardner ran a season-best time of 2:38.62 in the 800 Meter, while Abigail Smith rounded out the Falcons' performances with a 3:18.14 clocking. 
 
Clara Benner had an incredible race as the Falcons' only competitor in the 400 Meter Hurdles, smashing her previous personal best from freshman year of 1:08.19 with a new personal record and MAC-qualifying time of 1:07.07. Benner finished fifth in the meet amongst a very competitive field with her new personal best time, drawing within a second and a half of a top ten position for the event.
 
The Falcons had two racers in the 200 Meter Dash, with Arwyn Gruenwald finishing as the top of the duo with a MAC-qualifying time of 26.56. Kara Brown also qualified for MACs by a single hundredth of a second with a new personal best time of 27.50, an incredible performance in her third-strongest event. 
 
The Falcons fielded a single team in the 4x400 Meter Relay to round out the meet on the track, with the team consisting of Elana Pineda, Juliette Safer, Katie Gardner, and Clara Benner running a quick time of 4:18.31. Pineda ran a great time of 62.5 from a standing start on the first leg, while Safer and Garnder provided respective splits of 66.0 and 68.1 before Benner turned in an incredible anchor leg of 61.6, a sizable personal best in a relay for the junior. 
 
In The Field
 
The Falcons had a strong quartet compete in the Shot Put, with Leah Ferster leading the group with a put of 10.11 meters to easily qualify for MACs. Ella Axtell also had a very good competition, throwing a personal best distance of 10.07 meters to also qualify for MACs. Leah Ritzman and Ayva Sechman also narrowly joined the club with throws of 9.34 meters and 9.23 meters respectively, making the Falcons a perfect four for four in MAC qualifications in the field through the first event.
 
Olivia Call and Sara Cramer formed an excellent duo in the Triple Jump for the Falcons, with both qualifying for MACs with respective distances of 9.89 meters and 9.63 meters. Call's distance stands as a season best for the Senior throughout her continued return to competition after injury, while Cramer made the most of her first jump as a Falcon with a MAC qualification. 
 
Field events on Saturday began with the Pole Vault for the Falcons, which featured another highlight of the weekend for the Falcons in the form of Hannah Witter's school record in the event. Witter followed up her indoor school record of 3.63 meters with an outdoor school record of 3.50 meters, besting the old mark of 3.42 meters and bringing her in a three-way tie in second to first in Messiah's athletic history. Witter cleared 3.20 meters and 3.35 metesr on her first attempt before clearing 3.50 meters in her third and final attempt, earning her two records in as many months as well as a third-place finish in the meet.
 
The final event in the field, the Hammer Throw, also yielded an adjustment to the Falcons' All-Time Outdoor Top Ten list thanks to Jaclyn Steenstra's personal record and MAC-qualifying mark of 36.50 meters. Steenstra's mark, a personal record by 30 centimeters, updates her own All-Time ninth-place mark and placed her narrowly ahead of Leah Ferster, who also finished with a MAC-qualifying distance of 36.15 meters.
 
Up Next
 
The Falcons will return to competition next weekend at the Millersville Metric Invitational, hosted by Millersville University. The two-day competition, which will take place across April 4th and 5th, will provide a great opportunity for the Falcons to build on their incredible opening weekend and continue their strong outdoor season.  
 
 

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