Falcons Perform Well At Prestigious New Balance Collegiate
Senior Pat Roach was among the stars this weekend at the Armory, shining in both the open 800 and the record-setting distance medley relay. (Photo courtesy of Drac)

New York, NY/Selinsgrove, PA/Chester, PA — It was a big weekend for the Messiah College track and field program, as the Falcons held their own with some of the nation’s premier NCAA Division I programs at the New Balance Collegiate meet held at the prestigious Armory Track and Field in New York City Friday and Saturday.

Messiah’s men’s distance medley relay team of junior Cory Kaufman, sophomore Jesse Weidemann, senior Pat Roach and freshman Tyler Newhook set a new school record in a time of 10:15.03, finishing third behind only Fordham University and the University of Delaware.

The event — comprised of the 1,200, the 400, the 800 and the 1,600-meter legs — was altered greatly during Roach’s 800, as the senior clocked a split of 1:52.8. That clip pushed Messiah from around 11th place to third place overall, as the Falcons defeated the University of Houston, Seton Hall University and Florida International University, among others.

Messiah’s women’s distance medley relay team also set a school record at the New Balance Collegiate, as freshman Brooke Airey, freshman Lauren Harte, sophomore Grace Kaste and junior Erin Rhodes clocked a 12:28.97 — shattering the old program record of 12:47.71 set back in 2003. Rhodes’ split of 5:13.9 in the mile helped the foursome to a fifth-place finish at the Armory, defeating schools the likes of Florida International and Rider University as well.

On Saturday, both Roach and Kaste participated in the open 800-meter runs, with Roach provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Division III National Championships in a time of 1:52.76. That pace helped Roach finish fifth out of 86 total competitors, while he was the first non NCAA-Division I athlete to cross the finish line. Kaste, meanwhile, clocked a time of 2:20.28.

“It was really neat to see how well we ran against some of the really big-time schools, as we don’t often get a chance to do that,” said Dale Fogelsanger, Messiah head coach. “To be able to go up against schools like Pittsburgh, UCLA, Duke … it’s great to see Messiah running right along with them.”

As well as competing at the New Balance Collegiate, Messiah had split squads competing at the University of Susquehanna Invitational and the Widener University Invitational on Saturday, posting impressive results at those two locations as well. Messiah’s men’s 4 X 800 relay team of Weidemann, junior Eddy Palmer, Kaufman and Newhook set a new school record 8:00.07, taking first overall at the meet (and breaking the old mark of 8:08.15, set last season). Junior Mat Wicks threw a two-foot personal best in the weigh throw (40 feet, 8 and ¾ inches), while classmate Ted Simmons claimed second in the high jump, clearing a height of 6 feet, 6 and ¾ inches for the second week in a row — just two centimeters shy of the NCAA qualifying mark.

Messiah’s women’s 4 X 8 relay team captured second place at Susquehanna, finishing with a 9:51.77 clip, just three seconds off the school record. Palmer placed fifth out of 67 competitors in the open 800 with a time of 2:00.53, while junior Artie Black and sophomore Peter Shenk finished sixth and 10th in the 5,000-meter run, both with MAC Championship qualifying times (16:09.30 and 16:24.58, respectively).

At Widener, junior Kristen Bates scored 3,283 points in the pentathlon, breaking her old school record of 3,120 points and taking first overall. That number also qualified her for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships. On the men’s side, senior Jason Brown tallied 2,630 points in the pentathlon, finishing third.

Messiah will next compete in the Dickinson Invitational on Valentine’s Day. Events are slated to begin at 10 a.m.