GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah Women's Track & Field team competed today at the Middle Atlantic Conference Outdoor T&F Championships, completing Day One of Three in the culminating meet for the team's outdoor season with two days of action on Friday and Saturday to follow. After four finals were held on Thursday evening, the Falcons earned 25 team points to slot into second out of 16 teams competing this weekend at a home MACs for Messiah athletes held at Starry Field.
Action on the track opened with the 4x800 Meter Relay, with the Falcons earning a set of silver medals thanks to a second-place finish from
Kerrigan Lebo,
Alleha Glenn,
Madison Kimmel, and
Elana Pineda. Lebo started the team off with a strong leg of 2:23.60 that allowed her to hand off in second, while Glenn kept the Falcons in contention in third with a second leg of 2:24.39. Kimmel's stellar 2:22.94 split on the second leg behind a searing second lap brought the Falcons into second and within striking distance of first, a lead that was slightly too much for
Elana Pineda to make up as she split 2:19.15 on anchor to place the Falcons in second. The Falcons' finishing time of 9:30.06 places fourth all-time in program history.
The 10000 Meter Run saw another silver medal for the Falcons due to the efforts of
Delaney Turk, who significantly outperformed her seed placing (fifth) and time (39:50.04) to place second in a fantastic effort with a time of 37:46.18. Turk began her race in fourth, running all alone, before gradually moving up to pass two fading members of the lead pack to slot into second overall. Turk's incredible finishing time of 37:46.18 places her third in program history.
Ava Shirk crossed the line in a time of 40:40.38 to take sixth and earn three team points.
In the field, the Falcons picked up their third medal performance of the day behind an incredible performance from
Alivia Ritenour, who cleared 3.20 meters (10' 6") on her first attempt to earn a new personal record by five centimeters. Ritenour had the outright lead in the competition for a short time before two athletes cleared at 3.25 meters (10' 8"), allowing the freshman to take bronze with a clear overperformance of her seed placement. Ritenour's new personal record being set despite the very windy conditions that appeared to make pole vaulting very difficult for a number of the competition's top seeds vaulted her from ninth to a tie for fifth all-time in program history.
Two Falcons took their place in the Hammer, with
Jaclyn Steenstra taking top honors in 13th overall with a throw of 38.99 meters (127' 11"), just short of her personal record.
Ella Axtell also placed 29th with a throw of 30.99 meters (101' 8").
The first four of seven events in the Heptathlon were also contested on Thursday, with senior
Kara Brown slotting into third through the halfway mark in her second ever multi competition with a Day One total of 2476 points. Brown's total sits well in excess of her Day One total from her first ever multi earlier this season, earning her an 85 point gap back to fourth place. Brown finished with a solid time of 15.84 in the 100 Meter Hurdles to open the multi before earning a top clearance of 1.49 meters in the High Jump. Her 9.11 meters performance in Shot Put stands as a season best, as does her 200 Meter Dash clocking of 27.62 to cap a solid day one. Brown will participate in the Long Jump, the Javelin, and the 800 Meter Dash to conclude the Heptathlon on Day Two.
Be sure to tune into the second and third days of action on Friday and Saturday at
gomacsports.tv as the Falcons continue to contest the 2026 Outdoor MAC Championships over the next two days!
