READING (PA)--- The Delaware Valley men's and women's track and field teams completed the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Championships on day two at Alvernia University.
The men's team finished in eighth place out of 14th teams, two spots higher than their predicted tenth place finish and four spots better than last year's 12th place finish. The women's team finished in 12th place out of 14 teams and scored more points than the previous five years combined.
The men's 4x400 relay team of Dontae Mason, Matthew O'Dunlami, Justin Kaufman and Logan Cooper turned in the best result of the day for the Aggies, finishing in second place with a time 3:27.13, a new school record by nearly eight seconds. That result provided eight points toward the team score.
"I thought it was an amazing race by everyone," Cooper said. "Three of those guys, it's their first year running track here. To be able to do that with three new guys, it's an amazing experience. It's my first time having a relay score and all around it just felt really good to break a school record by that much."
Sarah Mullen ran well in the women's 60 meter hurdles after qualifying on day one. She clocked in a 9.60 in the finals, good for fifth place and four points toward the team score.
Mullen was also part of the women's 4x400 relay team with Kelly Hastings, Alyssa Blackmon and Alysia Joseph, which won their heat with a time of 4:30.69, giving them an 11th place finish.
"Today was awesome," Mullen said. "I love all my teammates. When the girls and I ran the 4x4 and we watched our fourth leg pass the girl and we won the heat, it was the best feeling ever."
Messiah Smythe placed in two different events on the day. First, he finished in sixth place with a time of 7.36 in the 60 meter dash to give the three team points. The first-year followed that up in the 200 meter run, taking home seventh place with a time of 23.18. That mark gave DelVal two team points.
"The energy level was big," Smythe said. "Coming in and shocking the MAC like this with people thinking we weren't even going to score points in half of our races, it was big."
The Aggies had two competitors in the men's 400 meter, with Logan Cooper and Justin Kaufman competing. Cooper ran a 51.77 to finish in sixth place for three team points, while Kaufman broke the previous school record with a time of 50.93 to take third, giving the Aggies six team points.
Kaufman competed in the 800m run as well, finishing in 13th place with a time of 2:01.89.
Brandon Perot qualified in the top nine in the men's shot put with a throw of 13.91m. In the finals, he threw 14.13m to take home eighth place and give the Aggies one team point.
Matthew O'Dunlami narrowly missed out on placing in the men's 400 with Smythe, as he finished in ninth place with a time of 23.35, 0.13 seconds behind eighth place.
First year- Grace Kane competed in the women's 200 meter, as she finished in tenth place with a time of 27.48, missing eighth place by 0.20 seconds. Alysia Joseph ran a 28.85 in the same event. Joseph also competed in the 400m, finishing in 15th with a time of 1:05.25.
The men's 4x800 relay team of Ethan Berberabe, Justin Rosenberger, Barry Turner and Carter Owen finished in tenth place with a 9:49.71.
Widener captured the men's team title, while Misericordia won the women's team competition. Full team standings are below.
MEN
1. Widener 147
2. Messiah 133
3. Lebanon Valley 108
4. DeSales 79
5. Stevenson 64
6. York (Pa.) 53
7. Stevens 41
8. Delaware Valley 29
9. King's (Pa.) 26
10. Eastern 16
11. Misericordia 14
12. Alvernia 12
13. Hood 6
14. Albright 2
WOMEN
1. Misericordia 154
2. Widener 115
3. Messiah 90
4. Stevens 89
5. Lebanon Valley 85
6. Alvernia 61
7. Eastern 39
8. DeSales 36
9. York (Pa.) 30
10. King's (Pa.) 16
11. Arcadia 11
12. Delaware Valley 7
13. Stevenson 6
14. Hood 2
