READING, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley men's indoor track and field team is second out of 16 teams through five events after the first day of the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships at Alvernia University in Reading.
 
The Dutchmen had a pair of second place finishes in the relays and scored in the weight throw and 5000 meters for 27 points. DeSales University is leading the field with 32 points. Misericordia University is second with 25 points followed closely by Widener University with 24 points.
 
Owen Linder qualified for Saturday's final in the 60 meters with a career best time of 7.11 seconds. He finished second in the fifth of five heats and moved up to third from fourth on the program's top 10 list. Colin Winters just missed qualifying for the final and finished ninth overall out of 38 sprinters with a career best time of 7.12 seconds. He finished second in the fourth heat and his time is fourth in program history. The Dutchmen had three qualifiers for Saturday's 60-meter hurdles final. Zach Reed won the second of two heats with a top time of 8.28 seconds. Kadan Smith had the second-fastest time of the day at a career best 8.42 seconds to win the first heat. His time is an AARTFC Championship qualifier and is fifth on the program's top 10 list. Daniel Murtha also qualified for the final with a season best time of 8.66 seconds finish fourth in the first heat and sixth overall. Michael De Falcis ran a career best time of 9.17 seconds to finish fifth in the second heat and 10th overall.
 
Matthew Santana earned a place on the podium in the 5000 meters with a career best time of 15:23.71 to finish fifth in the field of 26 to score four points. His time qualifies him for the AARTFC Championships next week and moves him up to third from eighth in the program record book. Joe Chukoski had a strong race and finished just off the podium in ninth with a career best time of 15:32.32. His time moves him up from seventh to sixth in the record book.
 
The Dutchmen earned All-Conference honors with a pair of second place finishes in the distance medley relay and the 4x200 meter relay. The DMR team of Vinny Ferrizzi, Matt Bruchak, Alec Di Cesare, and Sam Rothstein finished second with an AARTFC qualifying time of 10:22.21 to score eight points and earn Second Team honors. Rothstein was fourth at the start of the final lap and used a strong kick to move up to second. Their time is the fifth-fastest in program history. The 4x2 team of Linder, Donovan Goundie, Murtha, and Reed also finished second to earn Second Team honors and score eight points with a time of 1:31.91. It is the eight-fastest time in program history.
 
Josh Otto finished 14th in the long jump with a mark of 6.20 meters (20'4.25") on his first jump. Trey Reynolds and Cody Shay finished on the podium in the weight throw. Reynolds was fifth with a toss of 14.90 meters (48'10.75") on his fifth throw to score four points. Shay was sixth, scoring three points, with a mark of 14.74 meters (48'4.50") on his third attempt. Aonghas Evanick just missed the podium with a career best toss of 14.54 meters (47'8.50") on his first throw to finish ninth. His mark moves him up to sixth from seventh on the top 10 list in program history. Nick Guerieri had a mark of 12.90 meters (42'4") on his third attempt to finish 20th overall out of 34 throwers.
 
Alex Sabo is leading the heptathlon with 2687 points through four events. He began the afternoon with a career best time of 7.26 seconds in the 60 meters to score 792 points. He then scored 621 points in the long jump with a mark of 6.16 meters (20'2.50"). Sabo then threw the shot put 12.52 meters (41'1") to score 638 points. He finished up the day with a career best height of 1.81 meters (5'11.25") in the high jump to score 636 points.
 
Graison Michajluk is seventh with a score of 2240 points. He had a career best time of 7.66 seconds in the 60 meters to score 662 points to start the day. He then jumped a career best 5.75 meters (18'10.50") in the long jump to score 533 points. Michajluk threw 10.52 meters (34'6.25") in the shot put to score 517 points and ended the day with a height of 1.68 meters (5'6") in the high jump to score 528 points. The event will wrap up on Saturday with the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault, and 1000 meters.
 
The final day of the Championships begins on Saturday morning with the first event scheduled for 10:15 a.m. in Reading.

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