GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley track and field teams had a strong start to the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday as Andrew Namatka and the men's 4x800 relay team won events at Messiah University in Grantham.
 
Namatka won the men's 10,000 meters with a time of 31:31.62, using a great final lap to pull away from DeSales University junior Joseph Wilson, who finished second in 31:36.94. Namatka was in a pack of five that distanced itself from the rest of the group early in the race. The lead pack dropped down to three a little after the two-mile mark and then dropped down to Namatka and Wilson around the 20-minute mark as they were lapping the chase pack. Namatka stayed on Wilson's heels for much of the race and made his move right on the bell lap. He pulled away with a 1:04 split in the final 400 meters to win by four seconds. Namatka scored 10 points for the Dutchmen and became the third LVC runner to win the event in the past four years. Dylan Lenhart finished seventh to score two points with a season-best time of 33:19.13. Liam Allen just missed the medal stand with a career-best time of 33:25.12 to finish ninth. First-year Dylan Miller finished 13th with a season-best time of 33:38.82.
 
LVC scored eight points in the women's 10k behind three podium finishers. Charlee Kurtz finished fourth to score five points with a career-best time of 38:24.52. Her time is fourth in the program record books. Caroline Borleis just missed her career-best time and was seventh in 40:50.48 to score two points. Dani Fetterolf scored one point in eighth place with a time of 41:03.65. Christine Wagner just missed the podium as she crossed the finish line ninth with a time of 41:24.01.
 
The men's 4x800 meter relay team of Owen Kreider, Sam Rothstein, Lukas Walko, and Elijah McKell won the Dutchmen's first title of the weekend as they finished first to score 10 points with a time of 7:48.87. That time is the seventh-best time in program history. The Dutchmen defeated Eastern by two seconds after the Eagles won the indoor title. Kreider started things off with a split of 1:59.73 as the Dutchmen handed off the baton in third place. Rothstein split 1:57.82 to move LVC up to second. Walko took the lead with a split of 1:56.75 before McKell held off a late push by the Eagles with a split of 1:54.58. It's LVC's first conference title in the event since Rothstein led off and McKell anchored the team to a win as first-years in 2023.
 
The women's team of Sierra Kapcsos, Lila Shore, Abigail Hunt, and Autumn Garges finished third to score six points with a time of 9:39.87. Kapcsos led things off with a split of 2:24.66 to put the Dutchmen fourth at the first handoff. Shore was second after a split of 2:22.88. Hunt split 2:29.03 as LVC moved back to third. Garges then finished strong with a split of 2:23.32. It is the fourth consecutive year the Dutchmen have medaled in the event.
 
Emma Evans finished eighth in the pole vault to score one point at a height of 2.90 meters (9'6"). She entered at 2.50 meters (8'2") and cleared that height on her third attempt. She cleared 2.65 meters (8'8") on her first try, 2.80 meters (9'2") on her second attempt, and then 2.90 (9'6") on her first attempt. Evans missed all three attempts at 3.00 meters (9'10"). Luisanna Polanco did not record a height as she entered the competition at 3.00 meters (9'10") and missed on all three attempts.
 
Aonghas Evanick finished fourth in the hammer throw to score five points with a career-best mark of 49.49 meters (162'4") on his second throw. His mark is fourth in the program record books. Jordan Klinger finished 14th with a toss of 40.73 meters (133'8") on his first attempt. Bo Wheeler threw a career-best mark of 39.32 meters (129'0") on his second attempt to finish 20th.
 
Anna Sawicki is leading the heptathlon with 2841 points through the first four events. She started off the afternoon with a time of 15.71 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles to score 750 points. She had the top time in the field. The sophomore cleared 1.55 meters (5'1") in the high jump to score 678 points and equal the season-best height that she also had during the heptathlon at the River Hawk Multi. She had the second-best height in the field and moved down to second place in the standings by seven points. Sawicki had a throw of 11.53 meters (37'10") on her third toss in the shot put to score 630 points. She had her second-best mark in the field with her second-best mark of the season. Sawicki finished the afternoon with a career-best time of 26.16 seconds in the 200 meters to score 783 points and move back into first place. The sophomore had the fastest time in the field by almost a second.
 
Graison Michajluk is second in the decathlon after the first five events with 3150 points. He began the day with a time of 11.62 seconds in the 100 meters to score 728 points. His time was sixth in the field and the second-fastest of his career. The junior then recorded a mark of 5.73 meters (18'10" on his first attempt in the long jump to score 529 points. Michajluk threw the shot put 11.36 meters (37'3") on his third toss to score 568 points. He had the fourth-best mark in the field to move up from seventh to fourth in the standings. He continued his rise in the standings in the high jump as he cleared 1.87 meters (6'2") on his first attempt to score 687 points. He had the second-best height in the field and equaled his second-best height of the year to move up to third. The junior ended the day with a season-best time of 54.05 seconds in the 400 meters to score 638 points. He had the third-fastest time in the field.
 
The men's team scored 27 points in three events to open a five-point lead on DeSales University, which is second with 22 points. Misericordia University is third with 16 points, while York College of Pennsylvania, Widener University, and Stevens Institute of Technology all have nine points. The women had four events scored on Thursday, with King's College leading at 27 points, behind 24 points in the hammer. Messiah is second with 25 points, DeSales is third with 18 points, York is fourth at 16.5 points, and Stevens rounds out the top five with 15.5 points. The Dutchmen sit sixth with 15 points. Action on day two of the Championships will begin at 9:15 a.m. tomorrow morning.

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