Montreat, NC– The Patriots opened the indoor season with a strong first day of competition across two meets on Thursday, combining for five NAIA national standards, multiple event wins, and several impressive early-season marks. The best performances of the day came from the race walk squad at the Montreat Exams, where UC swept the podium and delivered two A standards to headline the weekend.
 
The 3000-meter race walk set the tone as Tomas Mencel won the event in 12:32.34, comfortably under the NAIA A standard. He was followed by Lucien Beardsley, who also earned an A cut behind his time of 13:42.59. Dillan Melchiore completed the sweep by finishing in 14:18.49, which secured the B standard and gave the Patriots three national qualifiers in one event.
 
UC added another national mark in the 5000 meters, where Ishak Mekideche opened his season with a winning time of 14:38.45 to earn a B standard. He led a dominant group as Noah Loeser finished second in 14:53.84, followed by Niklas Scherb in third with a 14:54.16 performance and Casey DeSilvey placing fourth at 14:58.93. Sean Crady rounded out the group with a sixth-place finish after crossing the line in 15:20.75.
 
The Patriots also swept the top three spots in the 600 meters. Victor Carpeggiani took the win in 1:23.50, with Reed Richardson placing second in 1:23.67 and Jackson Lowe close behind in 1:23.84. UC added two more victories through the sprint group, as Eddie Van Wyk won the 60-meter dash in 7.12 before returning later in the meet to take the 400-meter title in 50.67.
 
The final national standard of the day came at the Liberty Kickoff, where Seth Massie recorded a long jump mark of 7.15 meters during the opening day of the heptathlon. The performance surpassed the NAIA B standard and stood as one of the top jumps of the meet. Massie ended the first four events with 2,862 points through the 60 meters, long jump, shot put, and high jump.
 
Jelle Golbach also produced a strong start in the multi-events by clearing 1.94 meters in the high jump and finishing day one with 2,875 points, placing him third in his group. Both he and Massie will conclude the heptathlon on Friday with the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault, and 1000 meters.
 
UC also had two solid performances in the open long jump, where Nate Goodin tied for fourth after posting a mark of 6.74 meters, while Sincere Irvin added a 6.59-meter effort to finish seventh overall.
The Patriots return to action tomorrow as the multi-event group completes the heptathlon at Liberty, while the rest of the roster prepares for the weekend in Louisville, KY for the Commonwealth Opener.
 
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