GRANTHAM, Pa. - Day Two of the Middle Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships went very well for the Messiah Men's Track and Field team, with the Falcons bringing home two medals and four scoring placements across five contested finals. While Day Two had a significant number of preliminary races on the track to determine qualification for the final, the Falcons proved their quality in the rounds by sending three athletes to the finals between the 400 Meter Dash and 800 Meter Run. The Falcons also benefitted from two new marks on the program record top tens lists, with both of those performances earning the two medals added to the Falcons' total on the day. At the conclusion of Day Two, the Falcons are slotted in fourth in team scoring with 32 team points, sitting behind Lebanon Valley (57 points), Widener (47 points), and Eastern (42 points).
Action on the track kicked off with the 3000 Meter Steeplechase, a unique race with a very slow and tactical start as no individual racer wanted to take the early lead. The pace only quicked after a sudden burst one kilometer in, creating a very unique race where many of the athletes ran their quickest laps in the middle stages of the race.
Josiah Carnwath finished as the top Falcon in seventh place with a time of 9:52.25, a short way back from his personal record from earlier in the year of 9:43.72.
Nathaniel Coggins finished just outside of scoring in ninth place with a time of 10:01.92 that sits just a few seconds off his previous best of 9:58.71, placing him within a second of scoring in top eight.
Eli McClymont finished in 10th place, one spot behind Coggins, with a time of 10:10.38, continuing the Falcon trend of earning a time within a few seconds of his personal best of 10:08.84.
Matthew Rush, competing from the second, slower heat, had a fantastic race to finish with a personal record time of 10:29.02, a new best by a margin of eight seconds.
The Steeplechase was the only final on the track on Day Two, with the rest of events contested serving as preliminary rounds that would shape the composition of the finals to come on Day Three. The Falcons finished with a season best time of 43.59 in the 4x100 Meter Relay, their first time under 44 seconds so far this season, to place 12th in the preliminary round of the 4x100 Meter. The Falcons' team, made up of
Valen Shrum-Groff,
Jack Safer,
Zion Buck, and
Cooper Schwartz, finished with a time that sits only a few tenths off a position in the program records top ten list, a list that no team since 2016 has been able to enter.
In the 400 Meter Dash,
Will Xenakis had a fantastic race to earn the final time qualifying spot into tomorrow's final behind a personal record effort of 50.02. Xenakis needed every hundredth in his preliminary race as he qualified for the final by narrowly finishing ahead of the ninth-placed time of 50.05, while his previous personal best of 50.25 would have placed him 10th. Xenakis will return for the final tomorrow in an effort to finally break the 50 second barrier, with the 10th all-time performance of 49.94 also appearing to be under threat. Xenakis finished in eighth place in the preliminary round and will look to try to improve on that seeding in tomorrow's final.
In the 800 Meter Run, the Falcon qualified two into the final in the form of
Evan Sarkett, who won the third heat to earn automatic qualification into the final, and
Sean Baxter, who finished third in heat three and earned the second of two time qualifiers. Baxter and Sarkett raced together in the same heat, with Baxter following the quick opening tempo of the leaders and Sarkett spending most of the race off the lead path in fifth. As Baxter took the lead with 250 meters left to go, Sarkett began to move up on the outside and pass Baxter and another athlete to move from third into first before powering down the home stretch en route to a 1:55.06 season best time. Sarkett's performance in the preliminary round stands as a season best time by over three seconds, an incredible return to form for last year's fourth place finisher in the 800 Meter.
Sean Baxter finished in seventh overall in the preliminary round with a time of 1:55.63, earning a half-second gap back to the first athlete out of the final. Both athletes will return to tomorrow's final with an assurance of scoring and an outside chance at a minor medal as the sixth and 13th seeded athletes respectively from the preliminary round.
Dan Erikson competed well for the Falcons in the 400 Meter Hurdles, finishing in 11th place in the preliminary round with a time of 58.74, the second best time of his career. Erikson finished roughly a second and a half away from qualifying based on the times submitted by the top eight athletes who will progress to tomorrow's final.
The field yielded a number of exceptional performances for the Falcons, led by
Luke Bosma's gold medal winning performance in the Discus Throw. Bosma, the second-seeded athlete going into the competition, earned an early lead with a personal record throw of 46.02 meters (151' 0") in the second round, a performance in excess of his previous best by a meter and a half. Bosma managed not only to hold onto that lead throughout the rest of the competition but to exit the competition emphatically with a 48.03 meter (157' 7") throw on the final effort of the competition, earning a new personal best by an additional two meters and placing second in program history in the process. Bosma's placement in second in program history stands as a spectacular improvement over his previous placement of seventh yielded by his previous best from last year. Bosma ultimately won the competition by over two meters, an emphatic win for the Falcons to begin Day Two.
Nathan Bowman also competed in the Discus, finishing in 13th place with a top throw of 41.15 meters (135' 0"), a performance that was followed by
Jake Holland's top throw of 41.12 meters (134' 11").
Gamaliel Perde finished in 24th place with a throw of 37.34 meters (122' 6"), a personal record by about a meter.
The Falcons also benefitted from
Zion Buck's fourth-place finish in the Long Jump, a placement earned by Buck's top jump of 6.79 meters (22' 3.25"). Buck jumped his top distance on his first throw and submitted several other solid jumps before jumping over to compete in the preliminary round of the 4x100 Meter Relay with his teammates and ended up carrying his Round One jump until the end.
The Decathlon yielded a surprising but well-earned medal for the Falcons not in the form of
Ben Reichenbach or
Liam McGovern, but with sophomore
Jed Colyer finishing in second place in the Decathlon with a total of 5520 points to earn a silver medal and eight team points. Colyer's placement in second and his total of 5520 points places him ninth in program history in the Decathlon.
Liam McGovern finished in ninth place in the Decathlon with a total of 4947 points, while
Ben Reichenbach did not start in any of the events of Day Two after sustaining an injury at the conclusion of Day One. Reichenbach's total of 2645 through four of ten events held up for 11th.
Jed Colyer had a fantastic Decathlon competition from start to finish, earning a number of personal records on Day Two to accompany his furious start on Day One and conclude his competition. Colyer opened Day Two in the 110 Meter Hurdles, finishing with a personal record of 18.19. Colyer's top throw of 34.82 meters in Discus was second among decathletes in the competition, yielding another personal best by over three meters. Colyer's Pole Vault of 3.50 meters was near his best, setting him up well to lead the field behind a personal record throw of 46.49 meters in the Javelin. Colyer concluded his competition with yet another personal best of 5:06.15 in the 1500 Meter Run to cement his placement in second.
McGovern began his day strongly with a lifetime best for the senior in the 110 Meter Hurdles of 16.56 and followed up with a strong Discus Throw of 34.76 meters. However, McGovern was unable to earn any points in the Pole Vault after three attempts at his opening height of 2.90 meters. His concluding efforts of 40.06 meters in the Javelin and 5:50.28 in the 1500 Meter Run brought the senior home in ninth, yielding a collective point total of 4947.
Be sure to tune into the third and final day of these Outdoor MAC championships at
gomacsports.tv for the conclusion of the Falcons' efforts!
