Squad Opens Indoor Campaign In Impressive Fashion At Ursinus
Junior Kristen Bates wasted no time automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships in Saturday's season-opening meet.

Collegeville, PA — The calendar may not officially read winter just yet, but that didn’t stop the Messiah track and field program from getting a solid start to its indoor season Saturday at the Ursinus College Indoor Track Classic-Winter Invitational.

Junior Kristen Bates highlighted the action by becoming one of the nation’s first automatic qualifiers for the 2008 NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships, earning the bid in the 55-meter hurdles. Bates’ clip of :08.25 in the finals bettered her provisional-qualifying mark of :08.28 in the prelims, helping her to become one of the first NCAA qualifiers for the year and one of the first automatically qualifying times in any event (men and women) for the national meet.

Bates’ year-opening performance halted any curiosity as to whether or not she would be able to defend her All-American status in the event, as she claimed fourth place overall (in a school-record :08.16) in the 55-meter hurdles at the 2007 national championships.

Saturday’s clip earned Bates first place in the event, helping Messiah finish seventh out of 21 teams on the women’s side. A multi-talented performer, Bates also finished fourth in the high jump with a leap of 4 feet, 11 and ¾ inches, fourth in the triple jump (35 feet, 4 inches), and eighth in the 200-meter dash (:27.71). Freshmen Emily Brantner and Abby McDonald tied for fifth in the pole vault, both clearing a height of 8 feet, 6 and ¼ inches.

Junior Briana Eshleman provided the first performance for the season for the women's team, starting the day strong with a long jump of 15 feet, 7 and ½ inches. Sophomore Megan Sisson finished seventh in the 800-meter run in a time of 2:38.59.

The Falcons’ men were led by senior Patrick Roach’s school-record time of 1:56.56 in the 800-meter run, breaking Eric Bofinger’s 2007 mark of 1:58.51. Roach easily won the event, running a controlled race and staying with the pack for the first three laps before extending distance on the final leg.

Roach’s efforts were bolstered by sophomore Jesse Weidemann and junior Eddy Palmer in that race, as the tandem finished second and third, respectively. Perhaps the most audible moment came toward the end of that run, as Palmer passed two opponents in the final 100 yards to finalize the one, two, three Messiah finish.

The Falcons’ men finished sixth out of 20 teams on the day, receiving other notable performances from junior Cory Kaufman (second place in the mile, 4:29.92), freshman Chris Boyd (sixth place in the high jump, 6 feet) and freshman Billy Arboleda who shot put 38 feet, ¾ of an inch in his first collegiate meet.

The aforementioned athletes led a slew of performers to qualify for the MAC Indoor Championships, an event taking place Feb. 28 at Lehigh University.

Messiah will now sit idle through the holiday break before returning to indoor competition Jan. 17, when the team will travel to the University of Maryland Invitational.