Falcons Keep Pace, Win 17 Events In Wintry Gettysburg Duals
Junior Peter Shenk won the 800 in a personal-best time, battling through snow flurries Tuesday.

Gettysburg, PA — A snowy afternoon provided the rarest of backdrops for an outdoor track meet Tuesday afternoon, as Messiah participated in the Gettysburg College Duals.

The Falcons men’s and women’s teams combined for 17 first-place finishes out of 37 total events, leading the women to wins over Columbia Union College (119-37), York College (107-79) and host Gettysburg (106-68). Messiah’s men defeated Columbia Union by a 128-36 count, but fell to the host Bullets by a slim 98-100 margin.

Ten first-place finishes paced the women’s 3-0 mark on the day, as junior Kristen Bates finished with top honors in the 400-meter hurdles (1:05.78), the long jump (15 feet, 7 inches) and the triple jump (35 feet, 10 inches) — coming just 1.78 seconds away from hitting the national qualifying mark in the 400-hurdles despite the wintery conditions. Her first 400 hurdles appearance of the season, Bates ran the event into a strong headwind.

Such was the case for sophomore Kaitlyn Valis, who won the 200-meter dash in a time of :28.24. Messiah claimed spots one through four in the 1,500-meter run, as sophomore Grace Kaste (5:03.08) led the way, followed by freshman Mary Higgins, senior Jennifer Kooser and freshman Brooke Airey.

Freshman Lauren Harte ran a season-best 1:01.14 to win the 400, while senior Delilah Ruiz clamed first in the 100-meter hurdles (:16.36) — followed by sophomore Ellamae Heisey in third (:17.58).

Ruiz also finished second in the high jump (1.52 meters), and was part of the Falcons’ winning 4 X 400 relay team, as Heisey, Harte and Valis joined her in a 4:24.13 effort. The women's 4 x 100 relay squad (Heisey, Ruiz, Harte, and Valis) also took first with a time of :52.31, while senior Sara Evans took second in the 800 with a 2:33.95. Junior Jackie VanArsdale won the 5,000-meter run, finishing in a time of 19:46.38.

On the field, Messiah set four program top 10 performances, led by sophomore Alyssa Lengel’s 104 feet, 10 inch toss in the hammer throw (third-best in school history) and 101 feet, 10 inch toss in the javelin (improving her seventh-best mark). Sophomore Emily Strait took third in the shot put (19 feet, 10 and ¼ inches) while posting a top 10 performance in the hammer (91 feet, four inches). Freshman Emily Brantner pole vaulted through the snow to a second-place 9 feet, six and ¼ inch result — jumping a personal college record while moving up the top 10 list to tied for fifth.

Messiah’s mid-distance crew paced the men’s efforts, as the Falcons took first through third place in the 800 and first through fifth in the 1,500. Junior Peter Shenk led the way in the former, running a personal-best 1:58.89. He was followed closely by junior Cory Kaufman (2:02.88) and sophomore Taylor Munoz (4:04.68).

Senior Patrick Roach then led the dominating sweep of the 1,500-meter event, finishing with a strong final 300 to win in 4:16.45. He was followed by sophomore Ryan Pastore at 4:17.51, while sophomore Mike Kimmel (4:23.67), junior Trevor Book (4:25.31) and sophomore Jesse Weidemann (4:25.64) finished strong as well.

Freshman Tyler Newhook finished first in the snowy 5,000 (15:56.77), while freshman Matt Herring captured third in 16:34.88. Junior Eddy Palmer finished third in the 400 in :52.08, while freshman Rich Pennisi finished third in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:03.73.

Although the weather was quite cold for the water pit, Messiah took first through third in the steeplechase as well, with all three qualifying for the upcoming conference championships. Junior Jeff Smeiles led the way with a 10:18.56. He was followed by senior James Davis (11:08.98).

In the high jump sophomore Chris Boyd and senior Jason Brown finished second and third, jumping 5 feet, 10 inches and 5 feet, 8 inches, respectively. Both marks were qualifiers for the MAC Championships. Brown also finished second in the long jump (18 feet, 4 and ½ inches) and won the triple jump (39 feet, 11 and ½ inches). Sophomore Jordan Hollaway also brought home points for Messiah, finishing third in the triple jump (31 feet, 7 inches).

Five Falcons pole vaulters took on the challenge of vaulting in the snow, with freshmen Matt Cross and Chris Vasaturo finishing one, two. Cross jumped a season-best 12 feet, 11 and ½ inches.

Junior Matt Wicks took third overall in the disc (107 feet, 4 inches) and won the hammer with a throw of 125 feet, 4 inches. Junior AJ Smith took third in the hammer with a 90 feet, 1 inch toss and second in the javelin throwing 165 feet even.

Messiah will next compete in the Bucknell Outdoor Classic this Friday and Saturday. Decathlon events are slated to began at 12 p.m. Friday, kicking off the weekend.