Chester, PA — In an exciting final day of competition, the Messiah women’s track and field team successfully won their fifth consecutive outdoor Mid-Atlantic Conference Title — by one of their smallest margins.
Leading conference foe Elizabethtown College by just nine points after two days of competition and by just seven heading into Saturday’s final event, Messiah’s 4 X 400-meter relay team of sophomore Lauren Harte, sophomore Brooke Airey, senior Kristen Bates and junior Grace Kaste wrapped up the title in style, winning the meet’s final race in a time of 4:04.30.
When the smoke cleared, Messiah had finished with 193 total points on the weekend — 14 more than runner-up E’Town’s 179.
“It was a great finish, and a great weekend,” said Messiah head coach Dale Fogelsanger, who was named the MAC Women’s Coach of the Year at the day’s conclusion. “To win five of these in a row is just incredible.”
The 4 X 4 finale was what most were talking about during the final medal ceremony, as Messiah’s foursome was spectacular. Harte led off strong on the opening leg, positioning Messiah near the front of the pack. Airey then followed sjuit with a strong split to position the Falcons in a tie for third entering the third leg.
It was there that Bates literally took off, running a :59 split to position Messiah in a tight battle for first with Misericordia University. Kaste then ran a decisive final leg to claim the gold medal for the squad — solidifying the team's latest conference championship win.
As has often been the case, many outstanding performances from a variety of athletes was what enabled Messiah to once again take home the league hardware. Beginning with many all-conference honors, personal bests and a school record on Thursday and Friday, the women kept the momentum rolling all the way through the three-day event held on the campus of Widener University.
Of course, credit must be given to the outstanding efforts and direction from the Messiah coaching staff, as Fogelsanger’s COY honor was his fifth consecutive.
“Those awards are nice, but it really is a testament to both our assistant coaches and the amount of work this team puts in as a whole,” Fogelsanger said. “That’s where these honors really come from.”
Bates finished her last MAC Championship in style Saturday, adding four more gold medals to her first-place finish in Friday’s triple jump. She won the 100-meter hurdles, the 400-meter hurdles, the long jump and was part of the aforementioned 4 X 400-meter relay team — once again claiming the honor of top scorer at the MAC Championships, her fifth such accolade.
In addition to the gold medal in the 4 X 400 relay, Kaste took home the title of conference champion in the 1,500-meter run. After running a strategic race, Kaste took the lead on the final backstretch and never gave it back, winning with a time of 4:45.14. Senior Erin Rhodes led the field around the third lap and claimed fourth overall in a time of 4:48.47. Sophomore Abbey Reed also made it on the podium in the event, finishing in eighth in a time of 5:05.17.
Kaste, Airey and freshman Jessica Dillner also took three podium positions in Saturday’s 800-meter run. Kaste finished fourth in a time of 2:21.70 after an extremely tight finish. Airey, meanwhile, finished close behind in fifth with a 2:23.87 clip. Finally, after a strong personal-best performance yesterday to qualify for the finals, Dillner earned a point for Messiah with an eighth-place finish.
Early in the day freshman Rachel Bjorkman joined Bates on the podium for the long jump. She leaped 15 feet, 9 and ¾ inches in on her final attempt, helping her to seventh place overall.
Following the long jump, Messiah’s 4 X 100-meter relay team of freshman Courtney Grammar, junior Emily Ellis, Harte and junior Kaitlyn Valis ran :51.20 to place sixth in the conference.
In addition to her gold in the 4 X 400 and all-conference honors in the 4 X 100, Harte also claimed a silver medal in the 400-meter run with a time of :60.04.
Junior Ellamae Heisey claimed seventh place and her podium position in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of :17.09. Rhodes added to her all-conference performance in the 1,500 with a fourth-place finish in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:51.78. Additionally, senior Julie Kramer placed sixth with a time of 19:19.14.
Freshman Hillary Pelkey continued to add to the long list of personal-best performances in the field for the weekend. Her throw of 123 feet, 1 inch gave her the silver medal in the javelin. Junior Alyssa Lengel added to her all-conference honors in the hammer throw and discus, with a fifth0place performance in the javelin via a throw of 108 feet, 8 inches.
The women’s fifth straight conference championship completed a perfect year for the program’s talented senior class, as that group has won each of its four league titles by an average of 71.33 points. Combining with the indoor season, Messiah’s women have won the last seven total MAC Championships. The Falcons women track and field program has now won 15 MAC Championships overall.
Messiah’s men’s team finished fourth overall Saturday, earning 107 points following a solid final day of competition.
The highlight for the men's team came in the pole vault, as five Messiah vaulters combined to post a new school record of 30 cumulative points in the event.
The energy was high as four of the five athletes posted lifetime personal bests Saturfday, led by sophomore Matt Cross. Cross came out on top — beating teammate and freshman Colin Resiler — in misses after both cleared 13 feet, 11 and ¾ inches. Cross easily made each height on his first attempt. Senior Trent Zempel completed the Messiah medal sweep with a clearance of 13 feet, 5 and ¾ inches. Sophomore Rich Pennisi came back after taking silver in Friday’s decathlon to place fifth with a height of 12 feet, 11 and ¾ inches. Also clearing the same height was Sophomore Chris Vasaturo — placing 7th on misses. Zempel, after coming back from ACL surgery last year, is the only senior leaving Messiah’s dominant vaulting force next year.
Senior Eddy Palmer added to his gold medal in the 4 X 800-meter relay with a conference title in the men’s 800-meter run. Palmer took charge and led almost the entire race in a time of 1:54.31. Sophomore Tyler Newhook finished fourth with a time 1:57.53.
Messiah placed three athletes in the 1,500-meter run. Newhook added to his all-conference honors in the 800-meter with a third-place finish in the 1,500, running a season-best time of 4:02.52. Junior Ryan Pastore also ran a season-best time of 4:05.73 to take seventh. Finally, senior Peter Shenk finished in eighth in a time of 4:06.64.
Also making the podium for the Messiah men was sophomore Drew Melnick in the 100-meter dash, finishing in seventh in a time of :11.47. Freshman Aaron Reynolds placed seventh in the 400-meter run with a time of :51.74.
Junior Jared High followed the women's lead in setting personal bests in the throws with a toss of 184 feet even in the javelin. His new personal best gave him a fourth-place finish in the conference.
After finishing fourth in Thursday’s 10,000-meter run, senior Artie Black claimed fifth in the 5,000. Black finished with a very strong final lap to run a time of 15:45.33.
Finally, the men's 4 X 400-meter relay team finished the conference championship with a sixth-place finish. Freshman Aaron Reynolds, Shenk, Newhook and Palmer had a strong race to run a season-best mark of 3:29.01.
Widener University captured the men’s team title with 190 points. DeSales University was second with 169 points, while Elizabethtown finished third with 144.50.
Messiah will now conclude its season with a variety of last-chance meets, as a select group of athletes will look to improve on provisional or national qualifying marks, while others still look to make the cut for the upcoming NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. The Falcons will next send athletes to the Swarthmore College Last Chance Meet Monday. Events are slated to begin at 4 p.m.