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Men Best OF D-III At Collegeville Classic; Mile Record Falls Again

Collegeville, PA — A fourth-place and NCAA Division III-best finish for the men highlighted Messiah’s first scored meet of the 2009 calendar year Friday evening, as the Falcons participated in the annual Collegeville Classic on the campus of Ursinus College.

Messiah’s men’s squad finished with 49 total points on the night, the top finish from an NCAA Division III program as NCAA Division II Cheyney University won the team scoring with 66.5 points, followed by fellow D-II members Kutztown University (64 points) and West Chester University(62 points). Senior Patrick Roach again paced the team, qualifying provisionally for NCAA National competition in the 400-meter dash. Running the open 400 for the first time this season, Roach took first at the meet in a time of :49.68. He claimed All-American honors in the event at last year’s NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. Friday night at Ursinus, Roach also finished fourth in the 200-meter dash in a clip of :23.11.

The mile continued to be a powerful event for Messiah Friday as well, as yet another school record was set. Just a week after freshman Tyler Newhook claimed the program mark, junior Cory Kaufman bettered it, finishing third overall in a time of 4:22.08. Newhook — who set the previous record in a time of 4:22.51 at last week’s University of Maryland Terrapin Invitational — finished right behind Kaufman at Ursinus (4:23.22), making an exciting race for the record.

Another thrilling moment came in the high jump competition, as junior Ted Simmons outlasted Kean University’s Aaron Lucas in a jump-off for first place. Finishing fourth overall in last year’s NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field National Championships high jump, Simmons cleared 6 feet, 6 and ¾ inches Friday night — just two centimeters shy of the NCAA provisional standard.

In addition to that win, Simmons was able to garner Messiah four additional points in the long jump, finishing fifth with a leap of 20 feet, 9 inches. Other highlights included sophomore Derek Forney in the pole vault (seventh overall with a personal-best 12 feet, 5 and ½ inches) and junior Matt Wicks in the shot put (reaching the qualification standard for MACs in his first meet of the season with a toss of 39 feet, 4 and ½ inches).

Freshmen Matt Herring and Craig Hutcheson collected seven points for the Falcons behind fifth- and sixth-place finishes in the 5,000-meter run, respectively. Herring finished in a time of 16:47.16 and Hutcheson in a 16:49.00 clip.

On the women’s side, Messiah’s sixth-place performance was bolstered by freshmen Brooke Airey and Lauren Harte, each claiming second-place performances. Harte ran a season-best :62.21 clip in the 400-meter dash, while Airey turned in a time of 3:09.51 in the 1,000-meter run. Senior Sarah Evans finished sixth in a time of 3:17.96.

In the mile, sophomore Grace Kaste and junior Erin Rhodes finished four-five, with Kaste finishing in 5:17:07 — her first indoor mile time of the season. Rhodes was right on her heels, concluding the event in 5:19.29.

Messiah claimed seven points in the 5,000-meter run with freshman Courtney Long finishing fifth (19:26.53), junior Inna Potekhina seventh (20:03.10) and freshman Kate Spiering eighth (20:11.91). Freshman Abby McDonald finished fifth in the pole vault, earning Messiah four points with a clearance of 8 feet, 6 and ¼ inches.

The Falcons’ 48 points were good for sixth place out of 19 competing teams, as Haverford College (fourth, 58 points) and Cabrini College (fifth, 57 points) were the only NCAA Division III schools to finish with more points on the evening.

Messiah will next travel to NCAA Division I Bucknell University to participate in the Bison Open/Multi next Friday. Events are slated to begin at 4:30 p.m.