Messiah Begins Outdoor Campaign In Wet W&L-VMI Carnival
Senior Patrick Roach picked up where he left off in the 800-meter run this weekend.

Lexington, VA — The Messiah track and field program began its 2009 outdoor season at this weekend’s Washington & Lee University-Virginia Military Institute Carnival, competing against NCAA Division I, II and III competition on a pair of rain-soaked campuses on Friday and Saturday.

While no team scores were kept at the two-day meet, there were plenty of Messiah highlights, led by senior Patrick Roach’s school-record 1:50.00 performance in the 800-meter run.

Just two weeks removed from his All-American finish in the event at the 2009 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field National Championships, Roach smashed his old school record 1:53.83 in winning the event, going out with the pack and taking control at the third turn — leading the rest of the way to a strong finish. Roach’s clip bettered tandems from NCAA Division I VMI and Duquesne University, while he became Messiah’s first automatic qualifier for the upcoming NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships as a result. As of Saturday, Roach was currently ranked number one among all Division III athletes in the event.

The Falcons’ other ’09 indoor All-American also shone over the weekend, as junior Kristen Bates ran a :14.50 in the 100-meter hurdles, hitting the provisional qualifying mark and seeding her second in the country. Bates won the weekend’s event by beating out Washington & Lee’s Stacy Doornbos and NCAA D-I Liberty University’s Krystle Matthews, each of whom ran :15.40 clips. She also won the women’s high jump (clearing 1.53 meters), while junior Ted Simmons claimed the title on the men’s side, jumping 1.93 meters.

Junior Jackie VanArsdale finished second overall in the women’s steeplechase in a time of 11:42.40, placing her fourth on the Messiah Top 10 list. Sophomore Kaitlyn Valis also finished second in the women’s heptathlon, recording 3,291 points over the two-day event — a total good enough for fourth on the school’s top 10.

Messiah’s women’s 4 X 800 relay team finished second overall, as freshman Brooke Airey led off to VanArsdale, then to junior Erin Rhodes and then to sophomore Grace Kaste, as the foursome passed a group from conference rival Lebanon Valley College on the homestrech to claim second in a time of 9:44.61. Kaste was also a force in the women’s 800-meter run, using a strong second lap and a final 200-meter kick to finish third in a time of 2:16.56 — moving her to fourth on the Falcons’ all-time list. Messiah’s men’s 4 X 400 relay team took home third place in a time of 3:27.72. Sophomore Jesse Weidemann, junior Eddy Palmer, sophomore Cody Rosenbarker and Roach comprised that team.)

As if the continual rains weren’t enough, junior Cory Kaufman splashed his way to a fourth-place finish in the men’s steeplechase (9:41.96, seventh in the school’s top 10), while classmate Peter Shenk finished fourth in the 1,500-meter run. His time of 4:01.61 was sixth on the top 10 list.

Other notable performances included junior AJ Smith’s second-place performance in the javelin, as he threw the spear a total 169 feet, 9 inches in the first meet of the year to include the event. He also made ninth on the all-time list with a 78-foot toss in the hammer throw. Sophomore Alyssa Lengel finished sixth on the women’s side, with a toss of 99 feet, 6 inches.

Freshman Matt Herring finished seventh in the 10,000-meter run late Friday night under the lights in a time of 33:43.31, good for ninth on the program’s all-time list. Junior Brianna Eshelman posted a personal best in the heptathlon (2,988 points), a total that was the eighth-best in program history. Rhodes finished fifth in the women’s 1,500 in a time of 4:53.59 while freshman Lauren Harte took fifth in the rainy 400-meter run — finishing with a 1:02.30 clip.

Messiah will return for a week of training before continuing its outdoor season next weekend, as the team will travel to the Juniata Invitational Saturday.