READING, Pa. - The Messiah Women's Track and Field team will participate at the Middle Atlantic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships across two days this upcoming weekend, on Friday, February 27th and Saturday, February 28th. The Indoor MAC Championships will be hosted by Alvernia University, in Reading, Pa., at their Indoor Track Facility. Tickets costing $10 each, which must be purchased online, will be required for both Friday and Saturday for all spectators age seven or older, with younger children and MAC students receiving free admission. The competition will begin on Friday with the multi events at 12:15 p.m. and conclude at 5:50 p.m. with the 4x200 Meter Relay. On Saturday, the action will kick off at 9:15 a.m. with Day Two of the multi events and conclude at 4:45 p.m. with the 4x400 Meter Relay. The next two days of action promise to be an exhilarating display of track and field competition, with the meet serving as the culmination of the season for almost all athletes in the conference.
The Falcons have maintained a level of consistency at a high level during the past several editions of these Indoor MAC Championships, taking fourth place last year with a total of 66 points after finishing in fifth in the conference for the last two years before that. The Falcons last finished in the top three in 2022, when they placed third, while their last win in the conference is dated back to 2017. The Falcons would do well to match their finishes in the conference from the last several years for this upcoming weekend and appear poised to finish in the top half of the conference within a very tightly bunched assortment of teams. The Falcons will look to benefit from potential medalists and point-scorers in a widely dispersed assortment across the relays, sprints, hurdles, jumps, throws, mid-distance, and distance events. The Falcons do not have an incredible concentration of potential points in any one group but will hope to outperform in each area to achieve the highest finish possible.Â
Friday Action
Action on the track Friday will begin with the Distance Medley Relay, where an excellent Falcon team of
Elana Pineda,
Alleha Glenn,
Kerrigan Lebo, and
Madison Kimmel seems poised to challenge for a medal after running the sixth fastest time in program history earlier this year. The Falcons also figure to gain points in both the 60 Meter Dash and 60 Meter Hurdles, which both have their preliminary rounds on Friday. Senior
Kara Brown, who finished in second place last year in the hurdles, enters the meet seeded fifth and with a season best just 0.05 away from second. Brown has made the final of the hurdles in each of her previous three years of competition, finishing fourth, fourth, and second.
Arwyn Gruenwald will star for the Falcons in the 60 Meter and will look to replicate or exceed her two-time fourth places at Indoor MACs in the last two years. She enters the meet seeded in sixth with a season best of 8.14. If both Falcons advance past the preliminary rounds, they will start in the final the next day and be guaranteed to contribute to the team score.
The 5000 Meter Run will also take place on Friday, with the event serving as another excellent opportunity for team points. The distance duo of
Delaney Turk and
Ella Swayne look to both place high in the finishing order after finishes last year of seventh and ninth place respectively. Turk and Swayne have both made significant improvements this year and enter the meet seeded fourth and fifth respectively.
Emmie Battersby also enjoys an outside chance of scoring with her season best time of 19:04.37 after incredible improvements this season.
Aubrey Yeager and
Allison Keller will also start in the 5000 Meter. Â
Action on the track on Friday will conclude with the 4x200 Meter Relay, which will feature the Falcon team of
Arwyn Gruenwald,
Kaitlyn Albrecht,
Dajea Batchler, and
Lily Scheetz. Before not registering a finish last year due to a baton mishap, the Falcons had medaled in the event for two years in a row and will hope to return to scoring performances, entering the meet seeded ninth.Â
The Falcons' best chance to gain points in the field on Friday night will come in the Pole Vault, where freshman
Alivia Ritenour will start as the eigth seed going into the competition with a season best of 2.80 meters (9' 2.25"). The Falcons stand nearly an identical chance of scoring in the Weight Throw, where junior
Jaclyn Steenstra is seeded just outside of a scoring position in ninth. Steenstra has the Falcons' third best throw in program history of 13.74 meters (45' 1"), set earlier this year, and will look to steal a low point total for the Falcons. The underclassmen duo of
Lucy Colyer,
Ella Axtell, and
Sidney Avers will also start in the Weight Throw.Â
Saturday Action
Action on the track on Saturday for the Falcons will open with the Mile, where junior
Madison Kimmel will take her place amongst a very competitive field. Kimmel stands an excellent chance of scoring team points in an individual event for the first time in her career, being seeded seventh behind the 10th-best performance in program history this year of 5:17.89.
Kenzee Wiker will also start as the 10th of 12 entrants, placing her very close to a scoring finish.Â
The Mile will be followed by the sprint and hurdle finals, where
Kara Brown and
Arwyn Gruenwald will look to perform well for the Falcons if they secure their place in the final after Friday's preliminary round results.Â
The 800 Meter Run seems sure to be a highlight event of the day for the Falcons thanks to the combined efforts of
Elana Pineda and
Kerrigan Lebo, both of whom will start in the eight-person fast heat as the No. 2 and No. 6 seeds respectively. Pindea will look to continue progressing from her sixth place finish indoors and fourth place finish outdoors last year in the 800 Meter with a medal performance, while Lebo figures to be right alongside her teammate in a very competitive race. The 200 Meter Dash will be another great scoring opportunity, with
Arwyn Gruenwald starting as the sixth seed in her second individual event of the meet.Â
The final individual event of the meet will be the 3000 Meter Run, which will see the return of much of the Falcons' distance squad.
Delaney Turk and
Ella Swayne are seeded seventh and ninth respectively in the extremely competitive shorter distance event and will both look to submit scoring performances for the Falcons.
Ava Shirk and
Emmie Battersby look poised to compete for the win in the first heat and will be joined by
Aubrey Yeager, who is the fourth Falcons to double back from the 5000 Meter in the event.Â
Action on the track will conclude with the 4x800 Meter and 4x400 Meter Relays, with both relays appearing to be great scoring opportunities and the 4x800 Meter in particular looking like a potential medal. The Falcons are the defending 4x800 Meter Relay champions, running a time of 9:52.63 to win convincingly at last year's Indoor MAC Championships. The Falcons have already run a time of 9:55.11 in their first race in January and will look to submit one of the best performances in program history en route to a potential title defense. The 4x400 Meter Relay comes off of a seventh-place finish last year and will aim to match or improve that finish with a very young squad for the Falcons.Â
The Falcons will also have two opportunities to score in the field on Saturday despite not fielding any athletes in the horizontal jumps. Freshman
Lucy Colyer, who has enjoyed a spectacular first season with the fourth best Shot Put throw in program history, enters the competition seeded fifth and appears to be a medal threat on the right day.
Ella Axtell and
Leah Ritzman, who placed eighth in the Shot Put last year, will also start in the event for the Falcons.
Kara Brown's top jump of 1.55 meters (5' 1"), ninth in program history, also has her seeded fifth in the High Jump. If Brown is able to replicate the form that saw her set a collegiate best earlier this season, she will stand an excellent chance of scoring in her second event. Freshman
Kaitlyn Albrecht is also seeded in a tie for eighth and will look to steal points for the Falcons.Â
The Falcons will look to compete at the highest level and finish as well as they possibly can throughout two intense days of competition this coming weekend. Alongside this, however, the Falcons aim to remember as preeminent the reason that they aspire to compete at the highest level - for God's glory and to proclaim His name as they wear it across their chest in competition. Through all the competition, the times, the placement, and the team finishes, the Falcons will seek to fix their eyes on that which matters most. Regardless of the performance outcome, if God's glory is magnified through the Falcons' conduct and efforts this weekend, then the most important thing has been accomplished.
