YORK, Pa. – Kristeller, Knowles, Littlefield come home with gold hardware at the 2023 MAC Championships held hosted by York College.
 
The Pride finish with 109 team points behind Messiah with 132 and Lebanon Valley with 125.

Assistant coach Alex Palescandolo was named Assistant Coach of the Year.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED AT MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
 
DAY 1 – THURSDAY
 
The Pride would jump on the board quickly after a seventh-place finish in the 4x800 meter relay. Ben Miller, Josh Schreiner, Kevin Carolan, and Thomas Plunkett ran a 7:58.28 to out run King's by almost a second.
 
Joe Nescio continued scoring during the 3000-meter steeplechase as he ran a 9:45.19 to place fifth.
 
Alex Kristeller continued his dominance in the hammer throw as he led the Pride to a 1-2-3 finish with Justin Adams and Alden Littlefield following. Kristeller would place first with a 64.77-meter throw to inch closer to the MAC Outdoor record and Widener school record of a 65.10-meter mark from Tyler Williams. Adams would throw a 57.14 to earn eight team points while Littlefield would throw a 57.11 to earn six team points.
 
DAY 2 – FRIDAY
 
In the preliminaries of the 400-meter dash, Samuel Knowles qualified first with a 48.47 while Brion McNear would run a 49.46 to qualify fourth.
 
The final event of day two would be the 200-meter dash where Knowles would head into Saturday's race qualified first just ahead of Stevenson's Cameron Summers. Knowles would clock a 21.78.
 
First year Jacob Grossman snuck into team scoring with two points in the high jump as he marked a 1.83-meter jump.
 
The Pride would podium two in the discus as Jared Ware earned a bronze after his 46.34-meter throw. Littlefield out threw Stevenson's Jaden Jennings by 0.60 to place seventh with his 40.61-meter throw.
 
DAY 3 – SATURDAY
 
As the final day of competition came, so did the finals of the 1500-meter run. David Millar led the charge as he placed fourth with a time of 3:57.23 to earn five team points.
 
In the finals of the 400-meter dash, Knowles smoked the field again and walked home with a gold medal as he ran a 47.55 to earn 10 team points. McNear would come away with a sixth and three team points as he ran a 49.47.
 
Knowles would cap off his meet with another gold in the 200-meter dash this time running 0.04 faster than Summers from Stevenson. Knowles ran a 21.58 and again earned 10 team points.
 
The 5000-meter run would feature Joseph Cardie walking away with a bronze after running a 15:09.11.
 
In the final race on the track, the team of McNear, Ben Miller, Schreiner, and Knowles in the 4x400 meter relay clocked a 3:18.99 to win the field by over a second and walk away with 10 team points.
 
Littlefield shined gold in the shot put as he blew the competition out with a 17.23-meter throw to earn a new Widener school record. Littlefield's 17.23-meter throw took down Mike Recla's 2015 record of a 16.48-meter mark. Kristeller, David Waters, and Justin Adams rallied to place fifth, sixth, and seventh. Kristeller marked a 14.27-meter throw, Waters a 14.22-meter throw, and Adams a 13.72-meter throw.
 
UP NEXT
Widener will return to the track for a last chance qualifier meet held on Hansel Track on May 15^th. Time is yet to be determined.