SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The Messiah Men's Track and Field team competed at the Paul Kaiser Invitational hosted by Shippensburg University on Saturday, April 25, submitting a slate of excellent performances despite the rough conditions of hours of cold, wind, and rain. The Falcons competed strongly against a number of Division II schools, earning an event win as well as a new entry on the Falcons' top ten all-time performance list alongside two additional MAC performances.
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The Falcons will return to action at the 2026 Middle Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where they will conclude their season and look to improve on their fifth-place finish from last year's edition of these championships. The MAC Championships are set to take place from Thursday, April 30 through Saturday, May 2 at the Douglas K. Miller Track and Starry Athletic Complex.
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On the Track
Action on the track began with the 5000 Meter Run, an event in which
Micah Kao led a quartet of Falcons to finish in fourth overall with a time of 16:09.62.
Jared Walker finished with his second fastest time ever in the 5000 Meter Run as the second Falcon with a 16:54.14 clocking, about 17 seconds adrift of his personal record.
Samuel Mateer finished with a time of 17:55.18 and was followed by
Gavin Coggins' 18:25.91 performance.
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The 110 Meter Hurdles was next on the track, where
Ryan Mowery returned from injury to compete for the first time this outdoor season. Mowery finished with a time of 16.81 in his first race in two months, a performance within a tenth of a second outside of the MAC qualifying time.
Jack Safer was the top Falcon finisher in the 100 Meter Dash with a time of 11.83 in windy, cool, and rainy conditions, and was followed by Jace Russell's time of 12.46.
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The sprints were followed by the 3000 Meter Steeplechase, which saw
Celyn Evans as the only Falcon to toe the line on the cold, rainy day. Evans finished just under 11 minutes with a time of 10:59.55, a time within seven seconds of his personal best in the steeple from two weeks ago.Â
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The 4x100 Meter Relay was next on the track in short order after the preliminary rounds of the individual sprints. The Falcon team of
Valen Shrum-Groff,
Jack Safer,
Zion Buck, and
Cooper Schwartz finished with a time of 44.51 after quick turnaround for multiple athletes coming from other events, a solid time especially given the conditions.
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Samuel Hennett led the Falcons in the 1500 Meter Run, running a time of 4:09.16 in difficult conditions featuring driving rain and wind to place 11th overall.
Eli McClymont followed in the next heat in similar conditions with a personal best time of 4:16.43. Sam Meyer had a sensational close in the third heat, running his final 400 meter time in an incredible time of 1:05.34 to earn a personal best time of 4:29.46.
Nick Donohue finished with a time of 4:35.70 and was followed by
Kaiden Braught's 4:46.93 performance.Â
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The 400 Meter Dash featured a personal best performance of 50.23 by
Sean Baxter, who finished fourth overall in the competition despite being seeded 16th. Baxter's performance, a new best by three hundredths of a second, saw him finish ahead of a number of 48- and 49- second runners as a result of the difficult conditions for fast running.Â
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The 800 Meter Run featured a number of Falcons, who were led by
Bradley Kreider's personal best and MAC qualifying time of 1:58.80, a time that earned him a convincing win in his heat. Kreider went out quickly with a first lap of 58.5 before making a move around the field and driving to the finish, running his second lap in 60.2 seconds to finish at the front by nearly two seconds.
Kaleb Kabakjian followed Kreider in the finishing order with a time of 2:00.30, running an event split race that saw him just dip under the MAC qualifying time of 2:00.38.
Nathaniel Coggins finished with a collegiate best time of 2:01.30 to earn another heat win for the Falcons in the fourth heat and was followed by
Nathan Steen's 2:04.90 performance.
Caleb McInnes finished with a personal best time of 2:08.13, a slight improvement on his old best of 2:08.26, to earn yet another heat win for the Falcons in the sixth. McInnes led
Matthew Rush to a time of 2:09.08 in his first ever attempt at the 800 Meter, with
Larsen Cooper following soon after in a time of 2:10.53.
Jake Shoul turned in a collegiate best time of 2:11.95, with
Will Keane finishing in a time of 2:13.49.Â
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The Falcons had one athlete toe the line in the 400m hurdles, with
Eli Reeder finishing in a time of 1:13.61. The 200m followed, with
Zion Buck finishing as the top Falcon in a time of 22.99 despite the cold and rainy conditions.
Jack Safer followed with a time of 23.68, while Jace Russell debuted in the 200m for the first time as a collegian with a time of 25.46.
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The Falcons concluded action on the track with the 4x400m relay, fielding a team of
Larsen Cooper,
Nick Donohue,
Jake Shoul, and
Caleb McInnes. The team ran a collective time of 3:49.19.Â
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In the Field
The Hammer Throw was the first event contested in the field, an event which featured
Ted Lechthaler and
Gamaliel Perde. Lecthaler finished a couple of meters off his personal best with a mark of 41.01 meters (134' 6") and was followed by Perde's top throw of 34.09 meters (111' 10").
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The Shot Put featured a top Falcon throw of 14.46 meters (47' 5.25") from
Ted Lechthaler to place eighth in a very strong field.
Luke Bosma finished one place behind with a mark of 14.00 meters (45' 11.25"), improving his all-time position in program history from sixth to fifth.Â
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In the jumps,
Zion Buck kicked things off for the Falcons with a top jump of 13.52 meters (44' 4.25') in terrible triple jumping conditions, good enough for his second-best leap so far, this indoor and outdoor season.
Declan Hsieh continued his streak of performances over 11 meters, finishing with a mark of 11.17 meters (36' 7.75").
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Ben Reichenbach turned in a fantastic performance for the Falcons in the Javelin, earning a top throw of 52.18 meters (171' 2") to place fifth overall. Reichenbach's heave places him less than a meter away from an all-time top ten performance in program history.
Cooper Schwartz finished with a top throw of 43.49 meters (142' 8") and was followed closely by Joey Dunbar's 41.76 meters (137' 0") performance.
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Luke Bosma finished with a season best throw of 44.11 meters (144' 9") to place sixth in the Discus, finishing less than half a meter away from his personal best.
Jake Holland followed with a throw of 39.59 meters (129' 11"), while
Anthony Russo also finished close to his personal best with a mark of 30.26 meters (99' 3")
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The Falcons earned their sole event win on the day in the High Jump, with
Ben Reichenbach carrying the event for the Falcons with a clearance at 1.90 meters (6' 2.75"). Reichenbach, along with three other competitors, cleared 1.90 meters before failing thrice at 1.95 meters (6' 4.75"), resulting in a jump-off for the win. Reichenbach was the only competitor to choose to continue jumping as a result of the rainy conditions, giving him the win by default after a very close non-clearance on a fourth attempt at 1.95 meters.
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In the Long Jump, Joey Dunbar finished with a personal best of 5.85 meters (19' 2.5"), finishing one place ahead of
Declan Hsieh's 5.75 meter (18' 10.5") performance, his second best jump ever.
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Up Next
The Falcons will return to action at the 2026 Middle Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where they will conclude their season and look to improve on their fifth-place finish from last year's edition of these championships. The MAC Championships are set to take place from Thursday, April 30 through Saturday, May 2 at the Douglas K. Miller Track and Starry Athletic Complex.
