ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley track and field teams will compete for conference titles at the Middle Atlantic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships this weekend at Alvernia University. The meet will be held on Friday and Saturday at the Flynn PLEX in Reading.
 
Friday's schedule of events will start at 12:15 p.m., while Saturday's action will get underway at 9:45 a.m. Tickets for the Championships will be sold ONLINE ONLY! Day 1 Ticketing Link | Day 2 Ticketing Link
 
Leo Tirado is seeded second in the men's 60 meters with a time of 6.99 seconds that he ran at the Scarlet Knight Open. Colin Winters is also seeded in the top five with his time of 7.00 seconds that he ran at Bucknell. Hayden Milchanowski is also scheduled to compete in the event for the Dutchmen. Gabby Welter is seeded second in the women's 60 meters with a converted time of 7.96 seconds that she ran at the Dutchmen Invitational. Ava Matter is seeded fifth at 8.10 seconds, which she ran at the Diplomat Open. Caitlyn Kovatch is also scheduled to run in the event. Matter is the top seed in the women's 200 meters with a conference-leading time of 26.46 seconds that she ran at the PLEX Shootout. The Dutchmen have Caleb Auzenne, Donovan Goundie, and Tirado, who will look to reach the medal stand in the men's 200. Goundie is seeded eighth in the men's 400 meters with a time of 51.47 seconds that he ran at the SU Valentine Invitational.
 
Elijah McKell is looking to defend his men's 800 meters title and enters as the fourth seed with a converted time of 1:56.16 at the Widener Indoor Classic. He will be joined in the event by Owen Kreider. The women's team has Autumn Garges and Sierra Kapcsos seeded in the top eight of the 800, with both coming off their best times of the season. Garges is seeded fourth with a converted time of 2:21.84 that she ran at the Penn State Tune Up, while Kapcsos is seventh with her time of 2:24.17 that she ran at the Keogh Invitational. Garges and Abigail Hunt are expected to be near the front of the field in the women's mile as Garges is seeded third and Hunt is fourth. Garges ran a converted time of 5:08.96 while Hunt ran a converted time of 5:15.46 at the Widener Indoor Classic. Sam Rothstein is seeded fifth in the men's mile with a converted time of 4:21.35 that he ran at the Scarlet Knight Open. Dylan Lenhart will join him in the race as LVC will look to put two runners on the medal stand in the event.
 
The LVC will look to score major points in the distance events, starting with having four of its five entries in the 3000 meters seeded in the top eight. Andrew Namatka is seeded second with a converted time of 8:36.91 that he ran at the Widener Indoor Classic. Rory Lieberman is third at 8:37.72 from the Blue & Grey Invitational, Wyatt Leitzel is fourth with a converted time of 8:39.74 at the Widener Indoor Classic, and Joe Chukoskie is seventh at a converted time of 8:42.91 from the Scarlet Knight Open. Donnie Miller will also be competing in the event for the men's squad. Coyla Bartholomew is seeded sixth in the women's 3000 with a converted time of 10:24.62 that she ran at the Scarlet Knight Open. She will be joined in the race by Charlee Kurtz. Chukoskie will look to defend his 5000-meter title and enters as the top seed with a converted time of 14:52.91 that he ran at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational. Namatka is seeded third with a time of 15:20.90, Leitzel is fourth with a time of 15:22.46, and Walko is fifth at 15:23.16. All three ran their times at the PLEX Shootout. They will be joined by Dylan Miller in Friday's event. Charlee Kurtz is seeded seventh in the women's 5000 with a converted time of 18:20.19 that she ran at the Scarlet Knight Open. Caroline Borleis and Dani Fetterolf will also run for the Dutchmen in the event.
 
Joshua Leidich is seeded fifth in the men's 60 hurdles with a time of 8.68 seconds that he ran at the Keogh Invitational. Lewis Dieffenbach will join him in Friday's preliminaries as they both attempt to qualify for Saturday's final. Anna Sawicki is seeded fourth in the women's event with a time of 9.47 seconds that she ran at Bucknell. Mikayla Mitchell is seeded seventh with a time of 9.60 seconds from this past weekend's Keogh Invitational. Sarah Nagy will also be running in the event. The Dutchmen will field teams in all four relays and are expected to score in all of them. LVC has performed well in relays at the Championships over the past few years with multiple All-Conference performances and a few MAC titles.
 
Tirado is seeded eighth in the men's high jump at 1.90 meters (6'2.75"), which he cleared at the PLEX Shootout. He will be joined in the event by Graison Michajluk and Evan Donough. Luisanna Polanco is seeded third in the women's pole vault at a height of 3.20 meters (10'6") that she cleared at the PLEX Shootout. Emma Evans, Grant Smith, and Dylan Duncan will also compete in the pole vault this weekend for the Dutchmen. Tola Oyinkolade is the top seed in the women's long jump with a mark of 5.38 meters (17'8") at the Scarlet Knight Open. Mileyska Calderon is seeded fifth at 5.29 meters (17'4.25") from the Dutchmen Invitational, while Hailey Myers is seventh with a mark of 5.18 meters (17'0") at the Blue & Grey Invitational. LVC will also have Chloe Grady and Alex Brown looking to earn a spot on the podium. Oyinkolade is also seeded fourth in the triple jump, fresh off her mark of 10.83 meters (35'6.5") at the Keogh Invitational. Grady is seeded fifth with a mark of 10.62 meters (34'10.25") at the PLEX Shootout. Myers is seeded seventh at 10.40 meters (34'1.5") from the Blue & Grey Invitational. The men have three jumpers scheduled to compete in the triple jump as Alex Brown, Donough, and Taijay Brown will attempt to reach the medal stand.
 
The Dutchmen have three throwers competing in the shot put. Joi Connolly, Aonghas Evanick, and Bo Wheeler are all looking to score points in the event. Evanick is seeded fourth in the weight throw with a toss of 16.43 meters (53'11") at the Blue & Grey Invitational. Jordan Klinger is seeded tied for sixth with a mark of 15.53 meters (50'11.5") at the Scarlet Knight Open. Michajluk, Ethan Rush, and Marlon Perez will compete in the heptathlon over the course of the two days. Michajluk is seeded third with a converted point total of 4170 points that he accumulated at the Dutchmen Invitational. Rush's converted point total of 3457 points from the same meet is sixth. Sawicki will look to defend her pentathlon crown on Saturday, entering the weekend as the top seed. The sophomore recorded a converted point total of 3354 at the Bison Challenge.
 
The Dutchmen were picked first in the men's and women's Pre-Championship Poll by the conference coaches. The men's squad earned 13 first-place votes and 219 total points, while Messiah University was second with 193 points. The women also earned 13 first-place votes and a total of 217 points, while Stevens Institute of Technology was second with 189 points.

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