Final Results
with Caleb McGaughran, GoMessiah.com reporter
Elizabethtown, PA - The Messiah College women's outdoor track and field team continued to write history on Saturday, winning their seventh consecutive MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship. The women scored 189 points, with Lebanon Valley their closest competitor at 165 points scored.
The men finished in second place with 149 points as Widener University stormed ahead of the pack to score 250.50 points in the Championships.
Sophomore
Liz Martin was named Female Track Athlete of the Year, as Martin took first place in the 400-meter hurdles and the 100-meter dash. Martin also took second place in the 100-meter hurdles.
Freshman
Fred Fulton was named the Male Field Athlete of the Year, in large part recognition for setting the ninth-best distance in the nation for the Shot Put on Friday.
Messiah head coach
Dale Fogelsanger was named co-Coach of the Year for the women's team, his seventh straight Coach of the Year recognition.
On Friday, both Fulton and classmate
Trevor Stutzman had several excellent performances throughout the day. Stutzman placed first in the men's discus throw at 45.55 meters (149' 5”) while Fulton placed second at 45.29m (148' 7”). Fulton's throw was a season best throw, as well as substantial personal record. Fulton and Stuzman also had excellent performances in the men's shot put. Stutzman placed third in the event at 15m (49' 2.5”) while Fulton grabbed first place, with an incredible throw of 17.03m (55' 10.5”).
Fulton's throw broke his personal record from earlier in the season by over three feet, was ten feet farther than last year's school record and broke the MAC record from 1973! His throw was also a facility record at Elizabethtown College and ninth-best throw in the country for 2012. In addition, it has also qualified him for the USATF Junior Outdoor Championship this summer.
It was not surprising then when Fulton was awarded the men's Field Athlete of the Year at the end of the day on Saturday. For in addition to his performances in the discus and shot put, Fulton placed seventh in the hammer throw event, throwing 45.07m (147' 10”)—an incredible personal record which also allowed him to score. Freshmen
Trevor Stutzman placed directly behind Fulton, also scoring with a personal record of 45.04m (147' 9”). Fulton and Stutzman also threw well in the javelin, placing ninth and seventh respectively. Fulton's throw was another personal record (49.02m/160' 10”). Altogether, Fulton and Stuzman were able to bring 39 points to the team, Fulton carrying 20 of those points.
The women also performed well in their throwing events this weekend. Junior
Kira Maier broke her own school record in the discus with her first place finish at 40.43m (132' 8”). In addition, Maier had a personal record in the hammer throw at 42.23m (138' 6”) which placed her first in the event. Junior Hilary Pelkey also performed well, placin second in the women's shot put with a throw of 12.09m (39' 8”) as well as grabbing first in the javelin.
Another notable athlete from this weekend was sophomore
Liz Martin, who was awarded the women's track athlete of the year award for her performances in the 4x400 meter relay, 400 meter intermediate hurdles, 100 meter hurdles, 100 meter dash, and the 200 meter dash. Martin placed first in the finals of the 100 meter dash and the 400 meter Intermediate Hurdles, as well as grabbing a second place finishes in the 100 meter hurdles. Martin's time in the 100 meter hurdles improved from her preliminary time (15.15 for preliminaries and 15.12 for finals) while she still managed to place in the same spot (second) as she had in preliminaries. In addition, to these accomplishments, Martin placed third in the 200 meter dash.
Freshmen
Alex Yoder also stood out among Messiah's athletes, as he qualified for the men's 100 meter, 200 meter, and 400 meter dashes on Friday. Yoder had placed sixth out of fifteen athletes in the preliminaries of the 100 meter dash and on Saturday, he managed to obtain the exact same place out the eight athletes who qualified for finals. In the 200 meter dash, Yoder was once again able to place in the same spot for preliminaries and finals (second), while at the same time improving his preliminary time (22.06 seconds for preliminaries and 22.01 seconds for finals).
Among some of the best performances of the day, were the men's and women's races in the 400 meter dash finals. Senior Katherine Craven placed fourth for the women while junior
Tiffany Mills grabbed seventh both good enough to score. Messiah had a strong showing in the men's race, with five athletes competing who had qualified for finals. Freshman
Nicholas White placed third, while senior
Tyler Newhook grabbed fourth.
The Falcons had strong showings in their relays, both the men and women placing third in the 4x400 meter relay. In the 4x100 meter relay, the men also placed third, while the women grabbed fourth. In addition to this, the Messiah women placed third in the 4x800 meter relay on Thursday, while the men grabbed second—two places above their original seed time.
Messiah's women had several excellent performances in their women's distance events. Senior
Courtney Long placed fifth and scored in the women's 1500 meter run, setting an incredible personal record of 4:51.91. Juniors
Stephanie Miller,
Katie Stuck, and
Brenda Flaherty also competed in 1500 meter race, each setting a personal record (5:10.63, 5:27.14, 5:08.76 respectively) Miller dropping twelve seconds from her previous personal record.
Long returned to race in the women's 5,000 meter race later in the day on Saturday, racing alongside senior
Mary Higgins, sophomores Jennifer Bender, Jennifer Bove, and
Kaylene Mason, as well as junior Korrie Elliot. Higgins fought to the finish and ended the race with a solid second placing at 18:32.71. Long finished two places behind Higgins in fourth, while Bender placed fifth, allowing three of the five athletes to score. Mason ran a solid race throughout and finished well, with a life-time personal record of 20:02.26.
The Falcons also had five men compete in the 5,000 meter race, all senior athletes. All of the men raced well, seniors
Craig Hutcheson and Dan Herring leading the pack at two different points. In the end senior
Matt Herring placed first for the Falcons, scoring with a seventh place finish of 15:36.28. Senior Zach Hoageland also raced well, placing just out of scoring range with a ninth place finish at 15:42.10
The men also had a strong showing in the finals of the 800 meter run, having had three athletes qualify for the event. Senior
Tyler Newhook ran well, scoring at fourth place while freshmen Jonphillip McGill and
Eric Witmer placed seventh and eighth respectively.
The Falcons were pleased to see freshmen
Drew Engle and junior
Colin Reisler place well in the men's pole vault. The two athletes tied for third place in the event, jumping at 4.25 meters (13' 11.25”). Although not the highest either athlete has jumped this year, it was nevertheless an admirable accomplishment, as the men's pole vault was Engle's thirteenth event over the course of the weekend.
A select few still of Messiah's men and women will now prepare for the 2012 NCAA Championships, set to take place in less than two weeks.
Fans are encouraged to follow GoMessiah.com for future information to be released on the NCAA events.
