LANCASTER, Pa. - The Messiah Men's Track and Field team enjoyed an excellent outing at the Coach I Invite hosted by Franklin & Marshall College on Saturday night, competing alongside 17 other programs. The Falcons' performances were highlighted by five new MAC qualifying marks, while the Falcons held their own against the large assortment of competitors by registering eight top five finishes across the various events of the day.
The Falcons will return to action next weekend at the Bucknell Invitational & Multi, on January 30 and 31, an extremely competitive two-day meet that will ensure the Falcons benefit from intense competition. The Falcons continue to build towards the Indoor MAC championships at the end of next month, working to refine their performances as their season progresses.Â
On the Track
Action on the track in the 5000 Meter Run opened with one of the standout performances of the day, with junior
Josiah Carnwath smashing his 16:15.93 indoor personal best with a stunning time of 15:32.22, placing him third overall in the competition. Carnwath ran an incredibly patient and steady race, moving up gradually throughout the field to earn himself a new lifetime personal record by a wide margin.
Ryan Klemick also earned a new indoor personal best time with a 16:17.26 performance thanks to a quick final lap.
Samuel Mateer completed the trio of personal bests in the event for the Falcons with a personal record time of 17:30.64, with teammate
Jared Walker close behind in a time of 17:48.12.
Luke Acton crossed the line soon after to register an indoor best of 17:50.84.
A smaller squad of Falcons were led in the 60 Meter Hurdles by
Ryan Mowery, who bested his collegiate debut last week by four hundredths of a second to run a new personal best time of 9.20. Multi athlete
Jed Colyer was the other Falcon to toe the line, finishing with a time of 10.23.
Zach Schwartz led a trio of Falcon freshmen in the flat 60 Meter Dash with a time of 7.23 and was followed by a 7.56 clocking by
Cooper Schwartz alongside a new personal record time of 7.67 for
Jack Safer.
The 800 Meter Run featured fireworks as one of the most thrilling events on the day, as the field was led by last year's outdoor men's 800 Meter Run Division III national champion.
John Condon finished as the top Falcon in the race in third, less than a second adrift of the winner with a season best time of 1:55.98. Condon ran an exceptionally patient race, passing through the first half near the back of the field with a 400 meter split of 58.49 before running 28.8 and 28.6 for his final two laps to move up from eighth to third.
Sean Baxter finished close behind Condon with a season best time of 1:57.29, an excellent performance for the senior. Baxter found himself in second place overall and right on the shoulder of the national champion with just 200 meters to go thanks to a 28.6 penultimate lap, ultimately finishing his race with a 30.5 final split to place fourth. More fireworks were to be found in the second heat, with the freshmen duo of
Nathan Steen and
Samuel Hennett fighting for the win of the second heat from wire to wire. Steen got the best of his teammate, winning the heat with a time of 2:03.05 with Hennett second in the heat just behind in a time of 2:03.68.
Caleb McInnes also earned an indoor personal best with a time of 2:14.17, while multi athlete
Liam McGovern earned a lifetime best in the 800 Meter with a time of 2:18.82.
The 400 Meter Dash was next on the track for the Falcons, with WIll Xenakis finishing as the top Falcon with a time of 52.49.
Zion Buck finished with a season best time of 53.80, while freshman
Gabriel Torrado opened his collegiate career with a 58.72 clocking.Â
Valen Shrum-Groff led a host of Falcons in the 200 Meter Dash in another Falcon highlight of the day, with the freshman turning in a time of 23.80 in a fantastic race that qualifies him for MACs by a single hundredth of a second. Shrum-Groff's time also sits just a single hundredth of a second outside the 23.79 time required to gain entry inside the Falcons' all-time top ten list.
Zach Schwartz finished very close behind with a time of 24.04, while
Dominic Lewis earned a lifetime personal best by stopping the clock at 24.14.
Jack Safer also earned an indoor personal best with a time of 24.62, while
Cooper Schwartz rounded out the Falcons' efforts with a time of 26.26.Â
Evan Sarkett provided another highlight for the Falcons in the Mile, finishing in third place overall and within half a second of the winner thanks to an enormous personal best and MAC-qualifying time of 4:28.57. Sarkett ran a very patient race, running several seconds adrift of the lead pack for much of the race before closing furiously with a 29.7 final lap to move himself up from eighth to third.
Samuel Hennett completed the second half of his double with a MAC-qualifying 4:34.43 performance in a quick turnaround from his 800 Meter, finishing just ahead of
Nathaniel Coggins' new personal record clocking of 4:39.18 thanks to a 29.8 final lap.
Jacob Sahlstrom finished atop another trio of Falcons in the same heat with a time of 4:43.08, with
Matthew Rush (4:49.26) and
Daniel Satariano (4:51.31) close behind.
Larsen Cooper led another trio of Falcons under five minutes for the first time this season, with Cooper turning in a time of 4:58.28 that placed him just ahead of teammates Sam Meyer (4:38.35) and
Celyn Evans (4:59.49).Â
The 3000 Meter Run featured another strong contingent of results, with three of four Falcons earning personal bests and inching closer to the MAC qualifying time of 9:11.33.
Eli McClymont finished as the top of the group with a time of 9:16.61, just ahead of
Jackson Kay's 9:18.20 clocking and
Micah Kao's 9:20.58 personal best.
Kaiden Braught also finished with a time of 10:28.59 in his second track race as a Falcon.
The 4x400 Meter Relay was the final event of the day, featuring three Falcon teams. The top team, made up of
Valen Shrum-Groff,
Daniel Satariano,
Nathaniel Coggins, and
Sean Baxter, finished with a time of 3:37.12, led by Baxter's team-best split of 52.3. The Falcons' second team, made up of
Nathan Steen,
Caleb McInnes,
Dominic Lewis, and
Micah Kao, finished with a time of 3:47.03 and was followed by the third team, made up of
Larsen Cooper,
Josiah Carnwath, Sam Meyer, and
Matthew Rush, which finished in a time of 3:55.89.Â
In the Field
Hoyt Lechthaler achieved the highest Falcon finish of the day by finishing second in the Weight Throw with a mark of 16.20 meters (53' 1.75"), his fifth time throwing over 16 meters in competition.
Ted Lechthaler finished just shy of his personal best with a distance of 13.20 meters (43' 3.75"), with
Jake Holland and
Gamaliel Perde following with respective distances of 10.56 meters (34' 7.75") and 8.32 meters (27' 3.75").
In the Shot Put,
Nathan Bowman replicated Lechthaler's finish in the weight by placing second with a distance of 15.53 meters (50' 11.5"), a mark just shy of his personal best.
Luke Bosma registered a personal best mark of 12.52 meters (41' 1"), qualifying him for MACs, finishing just ahead of
Ted Lechthaler's top throw of 12.47 meters (40' 11").
Jake Holland finished close behind with a mark of 12.23 meters (40' 1.5") as the final Falcon in the field.
Zion Buck led the Falcons in the Triple Jump by finishing a shade over 13 meters, registering a top jump of 13.02 meters (42' 9.75") to place fifth. Freshman Joey Dunbar matched his personal best to the hundredth of a meter with a jump of 12.03 meters (39' 5.75"), while
Declan Hsieh earned his second personal best in as many meets with a new lifetime best of 11.16 meters (36' 7.5").
Ezra Zook was the top Falcon in the Long Jump in his first collegiate attempt at the event, finishing with an impressive distance of 5.86 meters (19' 2.75"). Joey Dunbar nearly matched his performance from last week with a top jump of 5.60 meters (18' 4.5"), while
Declan Hsieh followed up his incredible improvement last week with a strong effort of 5.39 meters (17' 8.25").
Gabriel Torrado competed in the High Jump to accompany his 400 Meter race in his collegiate debut, finishing with a top clearance of 1.63 meters (5' 4.25"). Multi athlete
Jed Colyer was the other Falcon to contest the event, finishing with a height of 1.53 meters (5' 0.25").
Ezra Zook supplied the final new MAC qualification on the day for the Falcons in the Pole Vault, eclipsing both his previous season best of 3.55 meters and the MAC qualifying standard of 3.74 meters with a top jump of 3.79 meters (12' 5.25"). Multi athlete
Jed Colyer finished with a height of 3.49 meters (11' 5.25"), nearly reaching his personal best, in his third and final event of the day.
Up Next
The Falcons will return to action next weekend at the Bucknell Invitational & Multi, on January 30 and 31, an extremely competitive two-day meet that will ensure the Falcons benefit from intense competition. The Falcons continue to build towards the Indoor MAC championships at the end of next month, working to refine their performances as their season progresses.Â
