MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - The Messiah Women's Track and Field team competed at Millersville University on Saturday, April 18th, highlighted by a few spectacular performances achieved by the smaller squad at a smaller meet. The Falcons competed well against 23 other teams and track clubs, earning an event win alongside four additional MAC qualifications and two Messiah top ten performances.
The Falcons will return to action with a full team at the Paul Kaiser Invitational hosted by Shippensburg University next weekend on Saturday, April 25th, their final competition before Outdoor MACs.
On the Track
Action on the track opened with the 5000 Meter Run, featuring four Falcon competitors.
Ava Shirk qualified for MACs in her first 5000 Meter of the outdoor season, finishing with a time of 19:28.91 behind a quick opening to her race that allowed her to surpass her best of 19:40.14 from the indoor season.
Samantha Mynio had a fantastic race close behind, using a similarly quick first mile to earn a new personal record time of 19:48.05, her second time ever under 20 minutes. Mynio's time fell within half a second of the MAC qualifying time, allowing her to achieve a new personal record by eight seconds.
Grace Bath also raced in the 5000 Meter and finished with a time of 22:48.00, while
Lia Widenhofer stopped the clock at 25:15.71.
Kara Brown led the Falcons in the 100 Meter Hurdles with a time of 16.08 in the preliminary round, good enough for sixth and a qualification to the final. In the final, Brown turned in 16.20 clocking after having also competed in several other events, reprising her sixth-place finish from earlier in the final. In the flat 100 Meter Dash,
Arwyn Gruenwald finished as the last qualifier into the final with a time of 13.01 but chose not to take her place in the final.
In the 3000 Meter Steeplechase,
Kelsey Hoffman completed her second ever race and finished in a new personal best time of 14:38.12. Hoffman's time stands as a 20 second improvement over her debut in the event last week at the Messiah Invitational.
The Falcons earned their event win of the day in the 4x100 Meter Relay, with the team of
Arwyn Gruenwald,
Kaitlyn Albrecht,
Lily Scheetz, and
Dajea Batchler carrying the baton around the track in a season best time of 50.89. The Falcons narrowly held off Bryn Mawr's 51.04 clocking in second place, as Batchler received the baton with a slight lead on anchor that allowed her to respond to a Bryn Mawr surge halfway through the final leg and ease away from the competition in the final meters.Â
A number of Falcons raced in the 1500 Meter Run, led by
Kerrigan Lebo's fantastic sub-5 clocking of 4:58.99 in her debut in the event. Lebo finished second overall in the event, overtaking a number of competitors on the final lap after a 77 second final lap.
Kenzee Wiker finished close behind with a time of 5:05.37 and was followed by
Emmie Battersby's 5:21.47 clocking. The trio of
Linnea Haney,
Paulina Torres, and
Katie Gardner also competed together in the same heat, with Haney finishing third in the heat to lead the group thanks to a 5:33.70 performance. Torres finished close after in a time of 5:35.21, just ahead of Gardner's personal best time of 5:36.81.
Caroline Shutts improved her collegiate best by four seconds thanks to a 5:54.01 clocking that led her to a heat win. Shutts ran much of her race with
Lexi Lapp, who ultimately finished with a season best time of 6:16.17.Â
Two Falcons took their place on the start line of the 400 Meter Dash, with
Elizabeth Biehl taking third overall behind a time of 1:03.06 that sits about half a second away from her personal best.
Lily Scheetz finished close behind in a MAC qualifying and collegiate best time of 1:03.70, good for fifth on the day.
The Falcons had a similar performance at the front of the 800 Meter Run thanks to
Madison Kimmel's second place finish in a negative-split time of 2:22.73, within a second of her personal record.
Alleha Glenn went out at a fantastic pace and led for much of the race before finishing with a time of 2:24.17 to take fifth. Helen Blakeslee finished just three hundredths of a second within her enormous personal record from last week at the Messiah Invitational, stopping the clock at 2:31.27 for her second straight 2:31 performance. Multi athlete
Kara Brown finished with a time of 3:04.92 in her fifth event of the day, just ahead of
Abigail Smith's 3:08.48 performance, a season best for the sophomore.
Kyra Dillon finished just short of her personal best in the 400 Meter Hurdles, turning in a solid time of 1:10.11 to finish in third overall. The 400 Meter Hurdles was followed by the 200 Meter Dash, which featured
Dajea Batchler's 27.92 performance and
Hannah Beals' 31.25 clocking in her second collegiate race.Â
The Falcons fielded two 4x400 Meter Relay teams to conclude the meet, with the first team of
Elizabeth Biehl,
Lily Scheetz,
Madison Kimmel, and
Kerrigan Lebo finishing in a time of 4:18.77 to place fourth overall. The Falcons' second team, made up of Kiera Dillon, Katie Garnder,
Paulina Torres, and
Linnea Haney, finished with a time of 4:42.68
In the Field
Jaclyn Steenstra earned a MAC qualifying mark in the Discus Throw to begin the meet in the throws, finishing with a season best mark of 30.58 meters (100' 4"), just eclipsing the MAC standard of 29.78 meters.
Leah Ritzman finished just shy of the qualifying standard with a season best throw of 29.29 meters (96' 1") and was followed by
Libby Jones' best throw of 28.52 meters (93' 7"), a performance within ten centimeters of her collegiate best from the previous week.
Seneca Mikesell finished with a distance of 23.66 meters (77' 7"), one place ahead of
Sidney Avers' 23.41 meters (76' 9") heave.
Morgan Deibler finished with a personal best throw of 20.82 meters (68' 3") to round out the event.
In the Shot Put,
Lucy Colyer earned one of the Falcons' two top ten performances on the day thanks to an 11.87 meters (38' 11.5") throw that placed her fourth in the Shot Put. Colyer's toss vaulted her from eighth to fifth in program history.
Ella Axtell finished very close to her personal best with a 10.72 meters (35' 2") mark, followed by
Leah Ritzman (9.53 meters, 31' 3.25") and
Morgan Deibler (6.31 meters, 30' 8.5").
Seneca Mikesell finished with a lifetime best in the Javelin Throw thanks to a 31.32 meters (102' 9") performance that placed her seventh overall.
Rachel Plant also finished with a sizable collegiate best thanks to a best throw of 27.05 meters (88' 9"), and was followed by Katelyn Baker (22.14 meters, 72' 7") and
Libby Jones (21.92 meters, 71' 11").
Brenna Jones rounded out the Falcons' efforts with a mark of 19.70 meters (64' 7").Â
In the High Jump,
Kara Brown finished as the top Falcon with a third-time clearance at her opening height of 1.52 meters (4' 11.75") before bowing out of the competition with three strong attempts at 1.57 meters (5' 1.75").
Kaitlyn Albrecht also finished with a height of 1.42 meters (4' 7.75").
The final field event of the day for the Falcons yielded the second top ten in program history, with
Alivia Ritenour finishing with a new lifetime best clearance of 3.10 meters (10' 2"). Ritenour's performances places her tenth in program history, eclipsing the previous last entry on the list by five centimeters.
Up Next
The Falcons will return to action with a full team at the Paul Kaiser Invitational hosted by Shippensburg University next weekend on Saturday, April 25th, their final competition before Outdoor MACs.
