LANCASTER, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley indoor track and field teams started the season strong with 36 Middle Atlantic Conference Championship qualifiers at the Diplomat Open on Friday at Franklin & Marshall College.

Track Events
Ava Matter finished third in the women's 60-meter dash with a time of 8.10 seconds. She had the third-fastest time in the preliminaries with a MAC-qualifying time of 8.13 seconds. Gabrielle Welter finished fourth with a time of 8.20 seconds. The first-year ran a MAC Championship qualifying time of 8.16 seconds in the prelims, which was the fourth-fastest time. Caitlyn Kovatch also qualified for the conference championship with a time of 8.33 seconds in her collegiate debut. Caleb Auzenne qualified for the MAC Championships in the men's 60-meter dash with a career-best time of 7.23 meters in his first race running for LVC. His time just missed the program's top 10 list by 0.01 seconds.
 
Anna Sawicki finished fourth in women's 60-meter hurdles with time of 9.52 seconds after running a MAC qualifying time of 9.55 seconds in the prelims. Her preliminary time was fourth in the field. Abbie Reed finished fifth with a time of 9.66 seconds after running a career-best and MAC qualifying 9.61 seconds in the prelims. Her prelim time was fifth in the field and is sixth in the program record books. Mikayla Mitchell was LVC's third hurdler in the final and finished sixth with a time of 9.67 seconds after running a MAC qualifying time of 9.64 seconds in the prelims. Her prelim time was sixth in the field. Sarah Nagy qualified for the MAC Championships with a time of 10.82 seconds in her first collegiate race. Joshua Leidich finished fourth in the men's 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.74 seconds in the finals. He ran a MAC qualifying time of 8.90 seconds in the prelims, which was fifth. Lewis Dieffenbach also ran a MAC qualifying time of 9.05 seconds in his first collegiate race.
 
Donovan Goundie finished fourth in the men's 200 meters with a MAC Championships qualifying time of 23.20 seconds. Leo Tirado ran a qualifying time of 23.32 seconds while Hayden Milchanowski ran a MAC qualifying time of 23.73 seconds. Matter continued her strong night with a second-place finish in the women's 200 meters with a MAC qualifying time of 26.49 seconds. Sawicki was fourth in a MAC qualifying 26.98 seconds. Her time is 10th in the program record books. Mitchell also qualified for the MAC Championships with a career-best time of 28.01 seconds.
  
Owen Kreider qualified for the MAC Championships in the men's 800 meters with a time of 2:02.69 to finish sixth in his collegiate debut. Sierra Kapcsos qualified for the conference championships in the women's 800 meters with a time of 2:29.16 to finish sixth. Autumn Garges won the women's 3000 meters with a MAC qualifying time of 10:52.77. After a composed first lap, the senior split between 42 and 44 seconds before dropping a 38-second split on her final lap. Dylan Miller finished third in the men's 3000 meters with a time of 9:35.73 in his first collegiate race. He went out strong with a 35-second first lap before cruising between 36-40 seconds over the rest of the race.
 
Donnie Miller ran a career-best time of 16:07.88 in the men's 5000 meters to qualify for the MAC Championships in the event. Miller ran a steady pace as he split either 38 or 39 seconds on every lap except the last once where he dropped to 33 seconds. The men's 4x400 meter relay team of Goundie, Braden Smith, Andrew Myers, and Milchanowski finished second with a time of 3:31.25.
 
Field Events
Tirado qualified for the MAC Championships in the men's high jump finishing at a height of 1.85 meters (6'0.75"). He cleared 1.80 meters on his second attempt before needing all three attempts to clear 1.85 meters. Luisanna Polanco finished fifth in the women's pole vault with a MAC Championship qualifying height of 2.90 meters (9'6.25"). The sophomore cleared her first attempts at 2.75 meters and 2.90 meters.
 
The Dutchmen had four MAC Championship qualifiers in the women's long jump. Tola Oyinkolade finished second with a career-best mark of 5.25 meters (17''2.75") on her second jump. Her jump is sixth on the program's top 10 list. Hailey Myers was third with a career-best jump of 5.17 meters (16'11.5") on her second attempt. That mark is eighth in the program record books. Chloe Grady was fourth with at a career-best 5.10 meters (16'8.75") on her second jump and Sawicki was fifth with a career-best jump of 5.02 meters (16'5.75") on her sixth attempt. Tirado and Alex Brown gave the men's team two qualifiers in the event. Tirado jumped 6.06 meters (19'10.75") on his third jump while Brown had a mark of 6.05 meters (19'10.25") on his third attempt.
 
Grady finished second in the women's triple jump with a MAC qualifying mark of 10.21 meters (33'6") on her second and fourth attempts. Myers was third with a MAC qualifying jump of 10.12 meters (33'2.5") on her second try. Evan Donough qualified for the MAC Championships in the men's triple jump with a mark of 11.93 meters (39'1.75") on the third jump of his career.
 
Sawicki finished fifth in the shot put with a MAC qualifying throw of 11.17 meters (36'7.75") on her third attempt. Joie Connolly also qualified for the conference championships with a toss of 9.66 meters (31'8.50") on her third throw. Graison Michajluk qualified for the MAC Championships in the men's shot put with a throw of 12.42 meters (40'9") on his third attempt.

Aonghas Evanick finished third in the men's weight throw with a career-best and MAC Championship qualifying toss of 15.47 meters (50'9.25") on his first throw of the year. His throw is fifth in the program's record books. Jordan Klinger also qualified for the conference championships with a toss of 12.87 meters (42'2.75") on his second of three attempts.
 
Up Next
The Dutchmen will be off until Jan. 9, 2026 when the team will compete in the only home meet of the year at the Arnold Sports Center with the annual Dutchmen Invitational.

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