GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah Men's Track and Field team is set for action at the 2026 MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships set to occur from Thursday, April 30 to Saturday, May 2 at the Douglas K. Miller Track and Starry Athletic Complex. The Falcons have been selected second in the Pre-Championship Coaches Poll behind Lebanon Valley College. See below for a preview of qualifying performances of the season.
Fans should note that since this is a Middle Atlantic Conference Postseason Tournament, tickets are required for all fans. The prices for tickets are as follows: Individual Tickets (7+): $10 Friday, $10 Saturday, $15 All-Sessions, Under six and Students with MAC ID: Free.
On the Track
Sixteen Falcons qualified across eight events on the track. In the short sprints,
Zion Buck earned a qualifying time in the 200 Meter Dash at the season opener in March.
A trio of Falcons qualified for the 400 Meter Dash with
Sean Baxter and
Will Xenakis being seeded inside the top ten, hopeful to secure a scoring position. Valen Shrum-Gruff will look to improve on his time from early in the season.
In the 800 Meter Run,
Sean Baxter leads four Messiah runners, seeded seventh prior to the championship. He is joined by
Evan Sarkett,
Bradley Kreider, and
Kaleb Kabakjian. Kabakjian is seeded sixth in the 1500 Meter Run and will look to improve upon his position on the podium while
Samuel Hennett sits just outside the top ten and will look to fight for a place on the podium.
The 5000 Meter Run is set to have the largest contingent of Falcon runners.
Louka Fetter leads the pack with a top-seeded time of 14:34.66, 12 seconds ahead of the second seed.
Kaleb Kabakjian and
Samuel Hennett both find themselves seeded within the podium while
Josiah Carnwath sits just outside.
Eli McClymont,
Jackson Kay, and
Nathaniel Coggins each registered a qualifying time.
Louka Fetter also leads the conference in the 10000 Meter Run with a time of 30:14.93, 33 seconds ahead of the second seed. He is joined by
Ryan Klemick who is seeded just outside the top ten but not far from a scoring time.
Messiah has a pair qualified in the 400 Meter Hurdles with
Daniel Erikson just outside podium seeding and
Will Xenakis close behind.
Josiah Carnwath and
Nathaniel Coggins are seeded in podium position for the 3000 Meter Steeplechase with
Eli McClymont close behind.
Matthew Rush will look to improve on his time from earlier this season to climb the finishing order.
In the Relays, Messiah enters the championships with the top time in the 4x800 Meter Relay. The Falcons will also look to compete strong in the 4x100 Meter and 4x400 Meter Relays to secure podium finishes.
In the Field
Ben Reichenbach was the lone Falcon to qualify in the High Jump, seeded fourth in the conference. In the Pole Vault,
Ezra Zook will be the lone Falcon to compete.
Zion Buck is seeded amongst the top jumpers in both the Long and Triple Jumps. Buck holds the second seed in the Long and third seed in the Triple. Multi athletes
Liam McGovern and
Jed Colyer also qualified in the open Long Jump.
Joseph Dunbar will join Buck in the Triple Jump.
In the Shot Put,
Nathan Bowman holds the top seed by three meters after his record-breaking performance two weeks ago.
Ted Lechthaler also finds himself in podium position, seeded fifth, while
Luke Bosma is seeded just outside the podium.
Anthony Russo and
Jake Holland are each qualified for the Shot as well as Multi athletes
Liam McGovern and
Ben Reichenbach.
Luke Bosma leads Messiah in the Discus, seeded second.
Jake Holland enters the weekend seeded sixth.
Nathan Bowman,
Ben Reichenbach, and
Gamaliel Perde are also qualified.
Ted Lechthaler and
Gamaliel Perde will return to the circle for the Hammer Throw.
Ben Reichenbach leads the Falcons in the Javelin, seeded just outside the top 10.
Cooper Schwartz and
Luke Bosma follow close behind him with
Joseph Dunbar and
Jed Colyer qualified to round out the Falcons efforts in the field.
Liam McGovern enters the Decathlon as the second seed with
Jed Colyer in sixth.
Ben Reichenbach sits just outside the podium but will look to earn a spot in scoring position.
