GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Albright Men's Track and Field team had quite the afternoon at the 2009 Messiah College Invitational. A variety of athletes shined in their respective events throughout Saturday's meet.

The afternoon got off to a great start as Kyle Keller (Schoneck, PA/Cocalico) set the all-time decathlon record at Albright with 4,154 points. Also making his first decathlon appearance was newcomer Jeff Wasco (Saylorsburg, PA/Pleasant Valley), who totaled 3,641 points.

In the day's first sprint event, Clif LeGrand (Prince Frederick, MD/Huntingtown) placed ninth in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.52 seconds. Right on his heels was Ryan Mays (Reisterstown, MD/Franklin) who finished just .01 seconds behind LeGrand.

From there Mays would go on to claim the top Lions finishes in the 200 and 400 meter dashes. In the 200 Mays finished in seventh place with a time of 23.15 seconds, while in the 400 he closed out the event with a time of 54.19 seconds to earn him 11th place.

Moving into the long distance events, freshman George Cook (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) posted another top time in the 1,500 meter run. With a 13th place finish, the New Jersey native recorded a final time of 4:24.74. Chris Bollinger (Little Silver, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven) also went the distance in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 19:46.38.

Freshman Richard Crawford (Blue Bell, PA/William Penn Charter) took seventh place in the 400 meter hurdle event, while Robert Kellert (Brick, NJ/Brick Township) placed seventh in the 3,000 meter Steeple Chase. The Lions then took fourth place in the 4x100 meter relay with a time of 44.18 seconds.

In the team's first field event, the High Jump, Justin Gewirtz (North Wales, PA/Wissahickon) placed first with a height of 6-05.00 feet. LeGrand was also a top five finisher in the event with a height of 5-09.75 feet (5th place).

The Long Jump would also see an Albright first place finish as LeGrand posted a distance of 19-00.50 feet to earn his first top mark of the day. Ryan Bausch (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) claimed third in the Triple Jump with a distance of 42-11.00 feet.

Albright once again dominated the throw events starting with the Shot Put. Senior Aaron Rogers (Reading, PA/Exeter Township Senior) earned third place with a throw of 42-09.50 feet. Justin Plummer (Upper Darby, PA/Friends Central) finished two spots behind his teammate in sixth with a mark of 41-08.00 feet.

Andrew Hettinger (Sinking Spring, PA/Wilson) took fourth place in the discus with a toss of 119-03.00 feet. Rogers was right behind him with a throw of 117-01 feet to earn fifth place.

Senior Ryan Thomas (Mohrsville, PA/Hamburg Area) continued to dominate in the Hammer Throw taking first with a sensational throw of 146-05.00 feet. Just last week, Thomas set the all-time hammer throw record at Albright with a toss of 150 feet even.

To close out Saturday's meet, the duo of Jordan Fegley (Reading, PA/Exeter Township) and Jordan Gilbert (Pittsgrove, NJ/Arthur P. Schalick) earned seventh and 14th place respectively in the Javelin throw.

Men's Track and Field returns to action on Thursday when they take part in day one of the 2009 Penn Relays.