CHESTER, Pa. – Eric Shelton highlighted a strong performance by the Lebanon Valley men's outdoor track and field team on Friday with a second place finish in the 3000 meter steeplechase at the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships in Chester.
 
The Dutchmen lead the conference after a huge first day with 52 points. Widener University is second with 37 points followed by DeSales University with 35 points. Stevens Institute of Technology is fourth with 28 points while York College of Pennsylvania and Messiah University are tied for fifth at 27.6 points.
 
Shelton led a trio of Dutchmen to reach the podium in the steeplechase during the only final on the track during Friday's schedule of events. The junior had a career best time of 9:34.13 to earn Second Team All-MAC honors and score eight points. His time qualified for the AARTFC Championships and is fourth on the program's top 10 list. Donnie Miller also had a career best time of 9:39.40 to finish fourth and score five points. His time is also an AARTFC qualifier and is fifth on the top 10 list. Noah Griffin finished seventh with a time of 9:45.38 to score two points. Cole Lehman was 12th in a career best 10:06.03.
 
In the field events that were held, Graison Michajluk was tied for 12th in the high jump with a height of 1.82 meters (5'11.50"). Ayden Stankus reached the podium in the long jump with a mark of 6.57 meters (21'6.75") on his sixth attempt to finish fifth and score four points. Aonghas Evanick finished fourth in the discus with a career best 43.39 meters (142'4") on his third attempt to finish fourth and score five points. His mark moves him up fourth from fifth in the program record books.
 
Alex Sabo finished fifth in the decathlon with 5298 points while Michajluk was sixth with 5280 points. Sabo scored four team points and started with a time of 21.25 seconds in the 110 hurdles to score 257 points. He then threw 32.60 meters (106'11") in the discus to score 516 points and then cleared 3.20 meters (10'6") in the pole vault to score 406 points. Sabo threw the javelin 45.58 meters (149'6") to score 523 points and finished with a time of 5:29.04 in the 1500 meters to score 404 points. Michajluk recorded three team points and started the day with a time of 18.00 seconds in the 110 hurdles to score 524 points. He then threw the discus 29.46 meters (96'8") to score 454 points and cleared 2.90 meters (9'6.25") in the pole vault to score 333 points. He threw the javelin 34.30 meters (112'6") to score 360 points and finished with a time of 5:05.73 in the 1500 to score 527 points. Sabo's career best total is third while Michajluk is fourth in the program record books. Both of them also qualified for the AARTFC Championships with their point totals.
 
The Dutchmen did great work on the track in the preliminaries to put themselves in great position tomorrow to win the program's first outdoor title. Owen Linder qualified for the 100-meter final with a time of 11.16 seconds as he finished second in the third of four heats. His time was the seventh fastest of the day. Colin Winters finished third in the fourth heat and 18th overall with a time of 11.39 seconds. Linder also qualified for the 200-meter final with a time of 22.31 seconds. He finished seventh overall and second in the fourth of four heats. Matt Bruchak was sixth in the same heat and 25th overall with a career best time of 23.26 seconds. Bruchak also ran the 400 meters where he was 18th in 52.64 seconds. Elijah McKell will have a chance to defend his 800 title as he had the best time in preliminaries at 1:53.32. He won the first of three heats. Alec Di Cesare was fourth in the second heat and 12th overall with a time of1:57.14.
 
Half of the 110 hurdle final will be Dutchmen on Saturday as Zach Reed, Daniel Murtha, Kadan Smith, and Joshua Leidich all finished in the top seven. Reed had the top time of the day to win the second of two heats in 14.75 seconds. The other three were second, third, and fourth in the first heat. Murtha had the third fastest time at 15.27 seconds, Smith was fifth at 15.78 seconds, and Leidich was seventh in a career best 15.97 seconds. Reed and Smith will also be in the 400 hurdles final as Reed won the third of three heats with a time of 55.60 seconds and Smith was second in the heat at 57.42 seconds. Reed's time was the third fastest in the field while Smith was sixth.
 
The 4x100 meter relay team of Donovan Goundie, Sabo, Linder, ad Winters qualified for Saturday's final with an AARTFC qualifying time of 43.27 seconds. They were third in the second of three heats and sixth overall in the field.

The Dutchmen will be back at Widener for the final day of the MAC Championships tomorrow with events starting at 12 p.m. in Chester.

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