YORK, Pa. - The Falcons made the most of a very windy day at York College for the York Twilight Meet that made fast running difficult, turning in a number of strong performances relative to the strong competition on the day. The Falcons earned an impressive four event wins alongside four new MAC qualifications, as well as two Outdoor Top Ten marks in the throws on the day.
On The Track
Action on the track opened for the Falcons with the 100 Meter Dash, with Joshua Karyea turning in another impressive performance with a time of 11.49 that backs up his 11.45 personal record clocking from last week. Dominique Lewis also finished just off his recent personal record clocking, clocking a time of 11.91.
The Falcons continued their strong sprint performances in the 110 Meter Hurdles thanks to
Gavin Dunkerton leading the Falcons with a time of 16.79, his second-fastest time ever and second time under 17 seconds, good enough for fourth overall.
John Steele finished close behind with a time of 17.07 to take eighth place in a very competitive race.
The Falcons ended up with a strong group finish in the 400 Meter Dash into strong gusting winds, with
Sean Baxter narrowly edging out teammates
Will Xenakis and
Evan Sarkett in the exceptionally challenging conditions. Baxter stopped the clock with a time of 52.78, just holding off Xenakis' charge in the home stretch that earned him a personal best time of 52.82. Sarkett cross the line a half step behind his teammates with a time of 53.23, with all three finishing in fourth, fifth, and sixth place overall respectively.
Isaac Sobek had an incredible day, finally breaking through the 56-second barrier and diving at the line for a time of 55.90, an incredible performance on such a challenging day to run fast.
The Falcons also had a number of strong performers in the 800 Meter Run, with
John Condon leading the charge with an exceptional event win over four-time reigning MAC 800 Meter champion Elijah McKell. Condon passed through halfway in the lead in a cautious time of 58.56 into the wind, then wound up the pace throughout the second half and just held off McKell's furious late charge with a 55.98 second lap. Condon's efforts earned him a stellar time of 1:54.54, an outdoor season best.
Kaleb Kabakjian moved up well throughout the field on the second lap to achieve a similar negative split, earning third place with a season-best time of 1:56.88. In the second heat,
Daniel Satariano and
Nathan Kimmel had a pair of impressive races to qualify for MACs, with Satariano's late charge thanks to a 59.38 final 400 meters earning him a personal best time of 2:00.39. Kimmel finished very close behind with a time of 2:00.79, a season best and narrow MAC qualifier.
Eli McClymont also ran a strong race to finish with a time of 2:05.18, while
Jackson Kay and
Aidan Pryor ran respective times of 2:07.12 and 2:09.04 into the gusting wind.
Nathan Kopp rounded out the Falcons' efforts with a time of 2:09.55, very nearly earning the heat win after a late charge in the home stretch.
Adam Hostetler was the sole Falcon to compete in the 400 Meter Hurdles, running a time of 59.05 in very challenging conditions.
The 1500 Meter Run also provided evidence for the rough conditions on the day, with
Zeke Colyer finishing as the top Falcon with a time of 4:27.17.
Matthew Rush also finished close behind with a time of 4:31.82, a roughly 10 second gap between today's performances and season bests for both runners.
Dominic Lewis was the only Falcon to compete in the 200 Meter Dash on the day, turning in a very strong performance by finishing a single hundredth adrift of his personal record with a time of 24.23.
The Falcons had a strong trio in the 5000 Meter Run, the final individual track event on the day.
Josiah Carnwath ran a very consistent race to finish with a time of 16:05.86, a very impressive time that stands just a single tenth off of his personal record in very difficult conditions.
Bradley Kreider went out quickly but found himself isolated from any competitors in the gusting wind after a short time and thereafter carried on strongly to finish with a time of 16:24.94 after going adrift of the pace.
Lance Kauffman finished close behind with a time of 16:32.97, a season-best clocking by a single second for the senior.
The Falcons had a strong contingent entered in the 4x400 Meter Relay, with three teams entered across two heats. The "A" team, consisting of
Sean Baxter,
Adam Hostetler,
John Condon, and
Evan Sarkett, earned top honors for the Falcons with an impressive time of 3:27.29 given the cool conditions thanks to strong consistent splits by each runner and Condon's team-best 50.4 clocking. The "B" team, made up of Nate Kopp,
Daniel Satariano,
Kaleb Kabakjian, and
Nathan Kimmel, finished with a time of 3:42.55, led by Kabakjian's team-best 51.6 split. The Falcons' "C" team finished very close behind with a time of 3:44.77.
In The Field
The Falcons performed very strongly in the first field event of the day, the Discus, taking three of the top four spots and four of the top seven in the finishing order.
Hoyt Lechthaler led the Falcons with a distance of 42.75 meters, a significant improvement upon his performance from last week and just a meter off his personal record toss.
Jake Holland set a sizable personal record distance in the Discus of 41.17 meters to finish as the second Falcon, while
Luke Bosma finished just a few inches behind with a top throw of 41.08 meters.
Nathan Bowman also threw for a strong distance of 39.22 meters.
Hoyt Lechthaler performed even more impressively in the Hammer Throw, taking the event win by a dominant margin and setting a new personal record of 50.12 meters in the event. Lechthaler's throw improved on his own second-best placement on the Messiah Outdoor Top Ten list, bringing him within five meters of the exceptionally elusive school record.
Ted Lechthaler was the second Falcon in the finishing order in tenth overall, finishing just a meter off his best with a 38.18 meter throw.
Nathaniel Leitzel also exactly replicated his performance from last week in the hammer with a measurement of 29.86 meters on his best throw, just four centimeters shy of his personal best.
The Falcons also performed well in the Long Jump, with
Jacob Cramer taking top honors for the Falcons with a distance of 6.33 meters, a season best and his best distance in nearly a year despite very strong headwinds. Cramer also finished in third place overall, just two centimeters shy of the win. Multi athlete
Gavin Dunkerton turned in a very impressive jump behind with a best of 5.78 meters, almost exactly replicating his season-best jump from last week's Messiah multi.
Declan Hsieh also competed in the Long Jump, finishing with a jump of 4.82 meters.
Joshua Karyea continued his excellent outdoor season with a jump of 3.85 meters in the Pole Vault, his best as a Falcon and just five centimeters shy of his personal best, to finish fourth overall on countback.
Hoyt Lechthaler once again led the Falcons in the Javelin Throw, finishing with a season-best and MAC-qualifying distance of 46.10 meters.
Nathaniel Leitzel finished with a mark of 40.40 meters in the javelin, while
Luke Bosma finished right behind with a distance of 38.89 meters.
The Falcons earned yet another event win in the field with the Shot Put, with
Nathan Bowman turning in an outdoor personal best distance of 14.51 meters that places him third on the Messiah Outdoor All-Time Top Ten list to earn a convincing win.
Ted Lechthaler also finished in second place overall with a solid distance of 14.09 meters, while
Anthony Russo earned a sizable outdoor season-best and narrow MAC qualifier with a distance of 11.70 meters.
The Triple Jump concluded the meet in the field and provided the Falcons' final event win thanks to
Jacob Cramer's top jump of 12.97 meters, earning him a narrow win in the event.
Up Next
The Falcons will next compete as an entire team at Shippensburg University's Paul Kaiser Invitational on Saturday, April 26th, in what will serve as the team's final meet before the Middle Atlantic Conference Outdoor T&F Championships take place the following weekend. In the meantime, however, several Falcons will compete at Widener's Paul Donahue Invitational on April 18th and 19th as well as Penn Relays on April 24th and 25th, with competitors in these meets chasing quick individual times or collective relay performances. The Falcons plan to make the most of every competition before Outdoor MACs as the season already begins to draw to a close, hoping to set themselves up for late-season success in the meet that matters most.
