SUSQUEHANNA, Pa. – The Messiah Women's Track and Field had a successful weekend across two different meets on Saturday, February 14th, performing very well today at both the Valentine Invitational hosted by Susquehanna University and the Widener Indoor Classic hosted at the University of Penn's Ott Center. The majority of the team competed at Susquehanna University, turning in a new top ten performance, an event win, and two new MAC qualifications, with the Falcons' efforts at the Widener's Indoor Classic also yielding a new top ten finish for the team.
The Falcons return to action on Friday, Feb. 20 at the Bucknell Tune-Up, where the Falcons will look to gain a final array of MAC qualifications and top marks in preparation for the Middle Atlantic Conference Indoor T&F Championships to follow the weekend after.
On the Track
The Falcons had two athletes in the opening 5000 Meter Run, with
Elizabeth Anthony finishing in a time of 22:31.73 as the first of two.
Lia Widenhofer finished with a time of 27:52.12.
The Falcons' 4x200 Meter Relay team, made up of
Arwyn Gruenwald,
Kaitlyn Albrecht,
Dajea Batchler, and
Lily Scheetz, improved upon their collective time set earlier in January at the Alvernia Winter Invitational by over a second and a half, turning in a 1:52.24 clocking. Much of the team's improvement is owed to a significant improvement of two 27-second splits for the second half of the relay, contributing to a performance that enabled the team to place fourth overall.
Kara Brown and
Kaitlyn Albrecht were the two Falcons to compete in the 60 Meter Hurdles, with Brown finishing first in a time of 9.67 that placed sixth in the preliminary round and qualified her for the final. Albrecht ran very well to finish with a new personal best time of 10.22, placing 13th. Brown improved slightly on her time in the prelims to place fourth in a time of 9.62 in the final, finishing just behind her season best of 9.48.
Arwyn Gruenwald was the top Falcon in the 60 Meter Dash, finishing with a time of 8.26 that sits just slightly off her season best.
Dajea Batchler had a fantastic race behind to register a new personal best of 8.43, qualifying her for MACs.Â
The Falcons raced very competitively in the Mile, with
Madison Kimmel finishing in fifth place in an extremely competitive field with a time of 5:20.71, a time just two seconds off her best.
Kenzee Wiker set a new collegiate best time by five seconds by finishing in a time of 5:36.33 and was followed by a 12 second week-to-week improvement from
Paulina Torres, who clocked a time of 6:09.87 thanks to a quick closing lap of 39.11.
Katie Gardner ran a very strong first 800 meter split of 3:01.11 before finishing with a time of 6:16.09.
Kelsey Hoffman also competed in the Mile, finishing with a time of 6:52.23.
Kyra Dillon maintained her very consistent performance in the 400 Meter Dash with a time of 1:06.60. Dillon was followed by
Kaitlynn Yeager's season best clocking of 1:18.08.Â
One of the top highlights of the day came in the 800 Meter Run that followed, with
Kerrigan Lebo and
Elana Pineda going 1-2 for the Falcons with two exceptional times. Pineda set a very strong pace running solo off the front, passing through 400 meter in a time of 1:10.23 with only Lebo in striking distance. The two passed through the 600 meter mark very close together before Lebo made a move past her teammate in the final 100 meters to set a new personal best in the indoor 800 Meter and break 2:22 indoors for the first time. Lebo's time of 2:21.92 places her seventh all-time. Pineda ran an exceptionally strong race to finish with a time of 2:22.76, just half a second outside her indoor lifetime best. Behind, senior
Linnea Haney finished just a second off her season best time of 2:43.35 from December.
The Falcon duo of
Lily Scheetz and
Dajea Batchler returned from multiple prior events to submit two very strong performances in the 200 Meter Dash. Scheetz led the way in a time of 28.33, an indoor best by nearly half a second, while Batchler's time of 28.63 stands as an indoor best by roughly a tenth of a second.
Emmie Battersby continued her incredible string of five straight personal bests this indoor track and field season, this time with a 11 second personal record in the 3000 Meter Run thanks to an 11:05.03 performance. Battersby placed fourth overall thanks to an incredibly consistent race and a fantastic final lap of 40.46.
Ava Shirk finished with a time of 11:33.87 and was followed by
Samantha Mynio's 12:03.16 performance that finishes near her personal best.
Grace Bath also finished with a time of 13:38.17 and was followed by
Lexi Lapp's 15:23.30 clocking.
The Falcons fielded two teams in the 4x400 Meter Relay, with the first team, made up ofÂ
Elana Pineda,
Madison Kimmel,
Lily Scheetz, and
Kerrigan Lebo, finishing with a time of 4:19.49, the Falcons' second fastest time in the relay so far this season. The second Falcon team of
Kenzee Wiker,
Paulina Torres,
Kaitlynn Yeager, and
Katie Gardner finished with a collective time of 4:40.50.
Two Falcons also competed at the Widener Indoor Classic in the 3000 Meter Run, with
Delaney Turk and
Ella Swayne both racing very well amidst intense competition. Turk finished with a time of 10:24.61 to improve upon her own fourth-best mark in program history, placing eighth overall in the competition, while Swayne finished just off her personal record in a time of 10:43.29.
In the Field
Alivia Ritenour kicked things off for the Falcons in the field by continuing her streak of improvements in the Pole Vault. Ritenour finished this week with a season best jump of 2.80 meters (9' 2.25") thanks to an excellent first time clearance at that height.
In the throws,
Jaclyn Steenstra led the way for the Falcons in the Weight Throw with a top mark of 13.44 meters (44' 1.75") to place sixth overall.
Sidney Avers qualified for MACs with a season best mark of 10.68 meters (35' 0.5"), finishing just ahead of
Ella Axtell's top throw of 9.65 meters (31' 8").
Ella Axtell returned to lead the Falcons in the Shot Put with a best throw of 10.30 meters (33' 9.5"), while
Leah Ritzman followed with a mark of 9.31 meters (30' 6.5").Â
Up Next
The Falcons return to action on Friday, Feb. 20 at the Bucknell Tune-Up, where the Falcons will look to gain a final array of MAC qualifications and top marks in preparation for the Middle Atlantic Conference Indoor T&F Championships to follow the weekend after.
