Annville, PA–The University of Valley Forge records book continues to be written in the 2026 season as the Patriots traveled to a cold and windy Arnold Field on the Campus of Lebanon Valley College on Saturday.
Leading the way for the women's team were Ava Mello and Sofia Troland. Mello set a team record in the 400 meter run with a time of 1:07.73. Her new mark bested Autumn Karampatsos' 2025 record of 1:08.60. Mello also set a new 800 meter run mark with a 2:56.09 performance. Mello held the old record from the previous meet. Troland added two more team marks with her 1500 meter time of 5:40.06 (the old mark was held by Troland at 5:47.77). Troland also added a record in the 3000 meter run with a time of 12:38.66.
On the men's side, freshman Kaleb Franco set a men's team record for 3000 meters with a time of 10:04.64. Franco will look to improve in future meets as he steps up to the 5000 meters.
Freshman Madison Naples set a team record for the women running 22.22 in the 100 meter hurdles. Naples continues to improve in the sprints while adding a punch on the mile relay squad. Freshman Dawson Bell set a team record for the men in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:12.61.
The men's 4 X 400 meter relay notched 6th place with a time of 4:05.94. The women established a new UVF mark of 5:12.09 good enough for fourth place on the day.
Freshman Mona Koko continued her discus prowess by placing third with a throw of 36.25 in her first attempt. Koko also placed sixth in the shot put with a heave of 9.73 meters. Koko will remain in the top throwers of Division III.
Other performers for the men's team include freshman Edras Turcios-Valle 100 meters in 12.09 seconds; Brandon Thompson 100 meters 13.02; Turcios-Valle 200 meters in 24.76; Thompson 200 meters 27.15; Senior Captain Shane Keith 200 meters 24.93; Keith 400 meters 55.51; Matthew Curtain 400 meters 58.14; Rhys Schoonmaker 400 meters 63.94; Everett Flower 400 meters 67.71; Nathaniel Gale 800 meters 2:06.75; Curtin 800 meters 2:21.89; Bell 800 meters 2:33.47; Schoonmaker 800 meters 2:38.27; Flowers 800 meter 2:48.98; Brandon Perez shot put 8.48 meters, and Cole Cherry shot put 6.38 meters.
Other women's performances include Brianna Walker 100 meters 19.01; Megan Poniatowski 200 meters 37.37; Walker 200 meters 41.99; Autumn Karampatsos 400 meters 1:08.65; Poniatowski 400 meters 1:28.18; Walker 400 meters 1:39.32; and Grace Schmidheini shot put 7.90 meters.
"We continue to show improvements across a multitude of events," said Head Coach Neil Schafer, "and we will look to add more top marks in our teams' history in the coming weeks."
Assistant Coaches Thomas Keinath and Samantha David continue to remark about the fine performances coming from the Patriot student-athletes
