YORK, Pa. - The Falcons concluded the Middle Atlantic Conference Track and Field Championships with Day Three on Saturday, finishing the competition very well. The Falcons placed fifth out of 15 teams with a team score of 76 points, finishing behind triple crown victor Lebanon Valley College (first, 139 points) as well as Misericordia, York, and Widener. The Falcons followed up their second-place team finish from the MAC Indoor T&F Championships with a performance to be proud of, especially when considering various injuries sustained throughout the season. Action on Day Three was highlighted by all of the finals from the preliminary rounds on Day Two as well as the 5000 Meter Run final, accompanied by a host of field event competition finals as well. The Falcons benefitted from a number of stellar performances on Day Three, including a silver medal in the 1500 Meter Run and three fourth-place finishes across three events, following up on two gold and two bronze medals from the previous two days. The Falcons also registered two new performances on the top 10 list to accompany the three entries achieved across the first two days, capping off a very strong championships.
 
On The Track
 
Action on the track for Day Three began for the Falcons with the 1500 Meter Run, where the Falcons had five competitors in the race. The slower of two heats began the racing, featuring Bradley Kreider, Kyle Costello, and Nathan Kimmel. Kreider, as the fastest of racers in the slow heat, hoped to run a fast enough time to threaten a scoring performance in spite of the faster heat to come and enlisted the help of teammate Costello to pace him for the first half of the race. Kreider ran a respectable time of 4:06.12, just off his best, after sitting behind Costello and then running the second half of the race all on his own. Nathan Kimmel finished second in the heat with a searing last 400 meters of 63.5, finishing with a personal record time of 4:10.05 in his final collegiate race. Kyle Costello finished the race after concluding his pacing duties with a time of 4:22.64. The performances of the fast heat remained to be seen in order to determine if Kreider's heat-winning effort was enough to score.
 
John Condon and Kaleb Kabakjian were the Falcons to feature in the second heat, which went out fairly tactical before speeding up significantly with about 500 meters to go. Condon followed the authoritative move of the eventual winner of the race better than all the rest, splitting an almost identical time for the final 400m after working his way up through the field after reacting to the move. Condon's final lap of 57.7 earned him a comfortable second place with an impressive time of 3:57.12, while Kabakjian was unable to match the move made by the pack and finished with a time of 4:11.65. Condon earned eight points for the Falcons with a silver medal as the sole scorer for the Falcons in the event, while Kreider finished in 10th overall as the second-placed Falcon.
 
The next final to feature a Falcon was the 800 Meter Run, where Evan Sarkett took his place as the fourth qualifier into the final from the previous day's preliminary round. Sarkett made another remarkable improvement, running nearly three seconds faster than in any other race before MACs to finish with a time of 1:54.42, a new personal record by 0.11 seconds. Sarkett ran a very evenly-paced race with 56.8 and 57.5 splits, finding himself in third place for much of the second lap before battling down the home stretch to earn a fourth-place finish. Sarkett's performance represents an incredibly clutch improvement over such a short time in his third all-out race in just as many days, replicating his fourth place finish in the 800 Meter from Indoor MACs.
 
The 400 Meter Hurdles featured Adam Hostetler, who was able to earn his place in the final as the seventh qualifier with a personal record time of 57.21. Hostetler went out very strongly in his race with nothing to lose, finding himself in roughly fourth or fifth place through 300 meters in the race. The final two hurdles proved a bit troublesome, but Hostetler still carried on very strongly to the finish to place in eighth with a time of 57.55, his second fastest time ever.
 
The 5000 Meter Run was the next event on deck, featuring Louka Fetter, Josh Bauman, and Bradley Kreider all together in a large heat of 30 runners. Louka Fetter finished as the top of the bunch in fourth place, running a strong time of 14:58.33 despite the searing heat. The race opened fairly quickly before a strong move was made just before halfway by the leading racers, a move that Fetter was able to match as the front pack shifted from an opening 3:04 1000 meter split to two 2:59 kilometers in succession. Fetter found himself in fourth place as he fell off the lead pack after the 3000 meter split, unable to run at sub-15:00 pace for any longer. Fetter was passed and fell into fifth for a time as the laps counted down before launching into a kick over the final 400 meters and reclaiming fourth place with a last lap of 62.44, the fastest of any athlete. Fetter's finish allowed him to replicate his placement in fourth in the 10000 Meter Run on the first day of MACs, capping off a solid weekend for the junior. Josh Bauman finished with a time of 16:21.27 after his scoring efforts in the previous day's steeplechase, while Bradley Kreider ended up with a time of 17:36.31 after his hard efforts in the 1500 Meter just three hours earlier. 
 
The 4x400 Meter Relay was the final installation of track action for both the day and the championships, with the Falcons earning a single point in eighth place. The team, composed of Sean Baxter, Evan Sarkett, John Condon, Will Xenakis, ran less than a quarter of a second off their best from this season to finish with a time of 3:22.02. Baxter led the Falcons off with a 51.2 opening leg and was followed by Sarkett, who split a time of 51.7 despite his incredible 800 meter effort from just two hours before. John Condon brought the Falcons up three places with an incredible 49.6 split, much of which was spent in lane two passing bodies. Will Xenakis ran a strong anchor leg for the Falcons, closing with a time of 50.4 to earn the Falcons a final placing performance on the track.
 
In The Field
 
The Javelin Throw kicked off events in the field on Saturday, featuring Gavin Dunkerton, Hoyt Lechthaler, and Luke Bosma for the Falcons. Dunkerton followed up his incredible throw of 54.15 meters from the previous day's Decathlon competition by finishing as the top Falcon in the event and the only one to make finals. The best of Dunkerton's six throws was a distance of 50.61 meters on the day, earning him ninth place. Hoyt Lechthaler finished in 13th place with a season-best distance of 48.28 meters, while Luke Bosma threw for a distance of 43.93 meters.
 
The Falcons managed to put two into the finals in the Shot Put, with Nathan Bowman and Ted Lechthaler both earning themselves six throws and finishing with respective distances of 14.17 meters and 14.12 meters. The two took seventh and eighth place, respectively, with their performances, earning the Falcons a combined three team points. Jake Holland and Anthony Russo also competed in the shot put, finishing with marks of 12.70 meters and 11.48 meters, an incredible personal record by almost a meter for Holland.
 
The meet finished off in the field with the Triple Jump, which proved to be a remarkable event for the Falcons. Jacob Cramer provided the Falcons' third of three fourth-place finishes on the day, jumping for a sensational 13.92 meters on the last jump of his last meet in the last year of his career, surpassing his collegiate record and standing as his longest jump in four years. Cramer's jump moved him up from seventh to third and he stayed in a medal position until just three jumps in the competition remained, ultimately finishing in fourth place. Cramer's farthest jump as a Falcon and as a collegian earned him his highest-ever finish in a MAC Championships, an incredible way to cap off a career for the senior. John Steele also concluded his career in the best way possible, coming back from a season riddled with injuries to jump a season record by three-quarters of a meter and within just five centimeters of his lifetime best despite missing significant time due to serious injury this season. Steele finished in eighth place with his 13.41 meters effort on the day, earning a single point for the Falcons in his final competition. 
 
What's Up Next
 
The Falcons capped off an incredible season as a team with their finish at Outdoor MACs, taking home a performance to be proud of after facing significant adversity as a team this season. Several Falcons may compete in last-chance or final qualifier meets over the next week or two, but the team as a whole concludes their efforts on the season with this meet and will next look to return next winter after some well-deserved time off.
 

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