GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah Women's Track and Field team had a very successful home meet, taking second place in the scored meet out of 20 teams with 116 points. The Falcons fell just short of Mount St. Mary's winning mark of 146 points, surpassing Dickinson (3rd, 72 points) and conference rival Lebanon Valley College (4th, 70 points) convincingly. out of 26 teams in the scored meet by a large margin with 138.5 points. The Falcons also turned in a number of strong performances despite the cold, windy, and rainy conditions that made running quickly difficult, still earning 4 new entries on the Messiah All-Time Outdoor Top Ten list - including a new school record in the pole vault - and five new MAC qualifications. The Falcons also earned four even wins on the day, contributing to their second-place finish as a team.
 
On the Track
The 10000m was the only event to be held on the track on Friday night, with Grace Bath toeing the line for the Falcons as the sole representative from Messiah in a field of 20. Bath finished alongside her sister and alum S.W.I.F.T racer Sarah Bath, with both clocking a time of 46:36 that stands as a personal best for the sophomore in her debut at the event.
 
Action on the track started off with a slew of fast times and personal bests, with the top Falcon duo of Kayra DeVries and Ella Swayne battling to the line in a fierce sprint to the finish for the event win. After benefitting from the pace set by Swayne for much of the race, DeVries edged past her teammate in the home stretch to finished with a personal record time of 18:38.37 for the win, her third straight personal record time in the 5000m and an incredible 1 minute and 42 seconds improved on where her personal record stood just three weeks ago. Ella Swayne finished just behind her teammate with a swift last lap to register a new personal record time of 18:39.64, a fantastic 1-2 finish for the Falcons. Aubrey Yeager also had an incredible race to finish fourth overall with a season best time of 19:49.06, just barely finishing under the MAC qualifying time of 19:49.35 for a fantastic qualifying effort. Olivia Miller finished one place behind with a personal best time of 20:07.86 in her first race back, unaffected by the break from racing over the past few weeks. Julia Steel also returned to the track with a finishing time of 24:02.03, while Lia Widenhofer crossed the line with a time of 25:31.53.
 
The Falcons also had a strong group in the 3000m steeplechase, with Teddi Powell taking a convincing win in the event with a stellar MAC qualifying and personal best time of 11:34.04. Powell's finishing time surpasses her old personal best from last year by nearly 14 seconds, launching her up from 9th to 6th on the Messiah All-Time Outdoor Top Ten list. Samantha Mynio also had an excellent race to stop the clock with a time of 12:52.41, finishing just two seconds adrift of her personal best and easily qualifying for MACs in the process. Elizabeth Anthony was the final Falcon racer in the event, making the Falcons a perfect three for three in MAC qualification with a personal best time of 13:44.07, finishing under the qualifying time by a single second.
 
One of the highlights on the day came in the preliminary round of the 100m hurdles, where Kara Brown blitzed the field to top qualifying with an incredible time of 15.16, a season best by nearly 0.7 seconds and a significant improvement on Brown's previous best of 15.42. Brown's new personal best clocking moves her up to 6th on the Messiah All-Time Outdoor Top Ten list. Brown also reprised her effort in the final, running a time of 15.50 to finish with one of her fastest clockings ever and to earn an emphatic event win.
 
The Falcons had a number of competitors in the 1500m, led by Madison Kimmel's third place finish in the event with a time of 4:58.73, a time that exactly equals her season best from two weeks ago. Linnea Haney also finished very near her season best with a time of 5:36.21, with Allison Keller close behind in a time of 5:47.88 in her debut this outdoor season. Lexi Lapp finished close behind her fellow juniors with a personal best time of 5:55.01, with Kelsey Hoffman finishing several places behind with a time of 6:06.48. Alyssa Hershey and Julia Rickard rounded out the Falcons' efforts with respective finish times of 7:06.39 and 7:10.40, a season best clocking for the latter.
 
The Falcons had a spectacular showing in the 800m, with Elana Pineda leading a large number of Messiah athletes in the event with an event win and personal best time of 2:20.13, a huge breakthrough for the Freshman. Pineda ran extremely even splits, coming through halfway in 70 seconds and continuing to expand her lead over other competitors en route to a convincing four second win. Kerrigan Lebo took fourth with a time of 2:25.90, while Meagan Kime finished two places behind with another sub-2:30 clocking in the form of a 2:28.99 mark. Isabela Rodriguez narrowly finished with a season best time of 2:31.59, finishing just ahead of the Falcon trio of Katie Gardner, Juliette Safer, and Helen Blakeslee. All three finished with a time of 2:35, with Gardner finishing atop the trio with a time of 2:35.05, and Safer and Blakeslee just behind with respective times of 2:35.35 and 2:35.80. Abigail Smith was the final competitor for the Falcons in the 800m, finishing with an outdoor season best of 3:08.23.
 
Clara Benner was the sole Falcon in the 400m hurdles, running a quick time of 1:07.46 in what stands as the second-best time of her career despite the difficult conditions. Kara Brown was also the only Falcon in her sprinting event, the 200m, finishing just off her personal best with a very solid time of 27.59 into a slight headwind.
 
The Falcons concluded their day on the track strongly in the relays, with the Falcons' team of Kerrigan Lebo, Madison Kimmel, Meagan Kime, and Elana Pineda finishing in second place overall with a time of 10:06.35 behind Pineda's team-best split of 2:22. In the 4x400m relay, the Falcons fielded a team of Clara Benner, Isabela Rodriguez, Katie Gardner, and Juliette Safer that ran a time of 4:36.90 behind four very consistent 68 and 69 second splits from all runners.
 
In the Field
The discus throw was the only open event to be held on Friday night, and six Falcons took part in the event as a part of the enormous field assembled for the opening throwing event of the meet. Jaclyn Steenstra led the Falcons in the event, finishing just adrift of her personal best with a mark of 33.43m. Leah Ritzman also finished just behind her best in the discus by a margin of only 6 centimeters, turning in a top throw of 30.76m on the day. Carolina Hatch and Sidney Avers were the next duo to finish in the event, finishing next to each other in the finishing order with respective marks of 25.61m and 24.64m. And after an extremely lengthy period of injury, sophomore Morgan Deibler was finally given health and a chance to compete, making the most of her first track and field competition in two years with a personal best throw of 20.46m in the discus. Beth Cummings finished very close behind with a mark of 18.34m to round out the Falcons' efforts on the opening night. 
 
Sara Cramer kicked the day off in the field for the Falcons in the triple jump, finishing just off her personal best mark of 9.44m (30' 11.75"). Olivia Call also competed in the event and will search for a mark in subsequent competitions.
 
Perhaps the biggest highlight across the weekend came in the form of Hannah Witter's third school record so far this outdoor season in as many meets, with the Senior clearing a mark of 3.66m (12' 0") to finally reach the 12 foot barrier and stretch the program record further into the stratosphere. Witter finished in third place in a remarkably competitive pole vault that was held indoors in order to avoid the difficult and windy conditions outdoors. Olivia Call cleared a height of 2.46m (8' 0.75") to set a sizable new season best, while Hannah Estep and Rachel Hartman both took three attempts at the same opening height and will search for clearances next week.
 
Leah Youtzy and Kara Brown tied in terms of their finishing heights in the high jump, with both achieving a mark of 1.46m, a season best for Youtzy. Youtzy finished third on countback with a clean card until the height of 1.51m, while a second-time clearance at 1.46m for Brown landed her in sixth.
 
Arwyn Gruenwald was the sole Falcon to compete in the long jump, finishing with a mark of 4.41m in her debut in the event as she took the weekend off from open sprinting events.
 
In the throws, the Falcons were led by Leah Ferster's personal record effort in the hammer of 39.15m, a mark that placed her eighth overall in an enormous field and moved her up to 7th on the Messiah All-Time Outdoor Top Ten list. Jaclyn Steenstra finished close to her personal record in the hammer on her own account with a mark of 35.98m, while Sidney Avers earned both a personal best and a MAC qualification in the event with a mark of 28.34m.
 
Leah Ferster also led the Falcons in the javelin throw in her debut in the event, finishing with a mark of 26.36m that sits less than a meter off of MAC qualifying in the event. Ayva Sechman also ventured beyond the shot put to try her hand at the javelin, finishing with a mark of 17.99m.
 
Ferster once again the Falcons in the shot put, finishing in fourth place overall with an outdoor season-best mark of 10.92m. Ella Axtell was the next Falcon in the finishing order with a personal record effort of 10.20m, a mark that just surpassed that of fellow freshman Leah Ritzman, who finished with a season-best top distance of 10.03m. Ayva Sechman and Carolina Hatch also competed in the shot put, finishing with respective marks of 8.97m and 7.35m. Hatch's mark stood as a personal best result in the senior's debut at the event, while Beth Cummings also threw a personal best mark of 6.86m.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will have a quick turnaround to their next competition at York, which will be held on Wednesday, April 16th, due to next week being an abbreviated week as a result of Easter Break. The Falcons will look to make the most of their meet at York, which will serve as one of their two remaining regular season meets left on the year in preparation for MACs in three weeks' time.

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