CHESTER, Pa. - The Messiah Women's Track and Field team turned in an excellent assortment of performances this weekend at the Danny Curran Invitational, hosted across Friday and Saturday at Widener University. The Falcons benefited from a number of exceptional distance performances on Friday night thanks to competitive fields and great weather, with cold and windy conditions prevailing for much of the day on Saturday as the Falcons competed excellently against an astounding 81 teams and clubs from across the region. The Falcons benefited from one program top ten performance as well as six top 10 finishes amidst extraordinarily deep fields across the weekend, setting up the team for success very well as the outdoor season progresses.
The Falcons will return to competition on a short week at the York Twilight Meet on Wednesday, April 1 before leaving on Friday for Easter break.
On the Track
Action on the track began Friday night with the 5000 Meter and 10000 Meter Run, with a number of Falcons turning in lifetime bests amongst extremely competitive fields.
Madison Kimmel finished with a lifetime best by a margin of 30 seconds to turn in a time of 18:07.25, a performance that places her ninth all-time in program history.
Emmie Battersby also had an excellent race to finish under 19 minutes for the first time ever thanks to an 18:55.12 clocking, with her fantastic close allowing her to dip just under the barrier.
Samantha Mynio also finished just under another barrier with a lifetime best of 19:56.26, with the junior utilizing an excellent close to eclipse 20 minutes for the first time ever.
Kayra DeVries returned from injury in her first race since September, tempoing a 20:38.24 time.
Elizabeth Anthony finished with a lifetime best of 21:23.75, a personal record by about 15 seconds, benefiting from running with DeVries for the first half of the race before her teammate accelerated away.
Lia Widenhofer also had an excellent race, returning under the 25-minute barrier for the second time ever with a time of 24:50.11.Â
Two Falcons participated in the 10000 Meter Run, with
Ava Shirk leading the charge behind an excellent 40:53.23 performance that saw the sophomore negative split incredibly during the second half of her race after a cautious first 5000 meters.
Grace Bath also had an excellent race, running a very even paced 47:40.40 clocking.
Action on the track Saturday opened with a fantastic performance from
Elana Pineda, who went out cautiously amidst the cold and wind but finished very strongly en route to a six second personal record time of 4:51.44. Pineda finished ninth overall and second in the second heat.
Kelsey Hoffman also ran a strong race to turn in a time of 6:09.94 and was followed by
Lexi Lapp's 6:28.09 clocking.
In the 100 Meter Hurdles,
Kara Brown ran a solid race to finish with a time of 15.76, a faster time than her season opener from last season that indicates strong performances to come this year.
Kaitlyn Albrecht also raced well for the Falcons in the hurdles, finishing just outside 18 seconds with an 18.07 clocking.
Elizabeth Biehl was the only Falcon to compete in the 400 Meter Dash, with the freshman turning in an excellent season-opening time of 1:04.77 that stands as her best time so far in her collegiate career. The 100 Meter Dash followed, an event that featured a personal best clocking of 13.22 from
Dajea Batchler. In her first ever 100 Meter race,
Lily Scheetz also ran well to finish with a time of 13.93.
The Falcons had an enormous contingent in the 800 Meter Run, with
Kerrigan Lebo leading the charge for the Falcons in the second heat behind a 2:21.53 finishing time that placed 10th overall.
Alleha Glenn ran an exceptional race to stop the clock at 2:23.61, a season best time by over three seconds that nears her lifetime best.
Meagan Kime also had a very strong race in the same heat as Glenn, finishing with a time of 2:26.38 that stands identical to her collegiate best from last season.
Paulina Torres also finished with a season best time of 2:34.66 behind a very unique racing strategy, with the freshman going out quickly behind the leader in her heat before regrouping, settling behind a pack, and then surging again in the final straight to place second in her heat. Helen Blakeslee also had a fantastic race after an extended time off from running due to injury, turning in a time of 2:36.45 that sits just a second outside of her lifetime best.
Katie Gardner and
Linnea Haney finished very close together, with Gardner running a time of 2:40.03 and Haney a time of 2:40.28 that sits just a quarter of a second outside of her personal best.
Kara Brown finished with a strong time of 2:45.62 in her first career 800 Meter, her third event of the day, and was followed by
Abigail Smith's 3:09.23 clocking, a season best for the sophomore.
Two Falcons participated in the 400 Meter Hurdles, with
Kyra Dillon running an excellent first career 400 Meter Hurdles race to finish with a time of 1:10.66.
Kaitlynn Yeager finished very close to her open 400 Meter times from earlier this season with a 400 Meter Hurdles clocking of 1:19.05, a fantastic race for the sophomore that qualifies her for MACs.
The same two Falcons who participated in the 100 Meter also returned for the 200 Meter Dash, with
Lily Scheetz taking top honors for the Falcons in a time of 28.10.
Dajea Batchler finished close behind with a time of 28.41.
The final event on the track for the Falcons was the 4x400 Meter Relay, which featured a team of
Lily Scheetz,
Katie Gardner,
Elizabeth Biehl, and
Elana Pineda. The Falcons finished with a collective time of 4:21.91 thanks to Pineda's team-best split of 62.1 on anchor.
In the Field
Two Falcons participated in the Shot Put to open field action for the weekend, with
Lucy Colyer finishing as the top of the duo in a top throw of 10.87 meters (35' 8").
Ella Axtell also finished over 10 meters with a 10.01 meters (32' 10.25") performance.
A different duo opened action on Saturday in the Javelin throw, an event that featured two freshmen for the Falcons.
Seneca Mikesell earned a top throw of 27.73 meters (90' 11"), ahead of
Rachel Plant's 24.78 meters (81' 3") performance. Both athletes made their collegiate debut this weekend for the Falcons.
Kara Brown submitted a strong effort in the High Jump, finishing with a top height of 1.50 meters (4' 11").
Alivia Ritenour finished with a height of 2.75 meters (9' 0.25") in the Pole Vault, clearing the height on her second attempt.
Up Next
The Falcons will return to competition on a short week at the York Twilight Meet on Wednesday, April 1 before leaving on Friday for Easter break.
