HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Centennial Conference indoor track & field season comes to an end this weekend when Haverford College hosts the 2014 championship meet at The Gary Lutnick Tennis & Track Center in Alumni Field House. The Fords expect to place numerous athletes on the podium of the two-day meet on Saturday and Sunday.
One of the early competitors for Haverford is reigning heptathlon champion Jeffrey Ainsley who will try to capture the event for the second straight year. Only a sophomore, Ainsley set broke his own school record, set last winter, in the two-day, seven-event competition earlier this season when he accumulated 4,416 points at the Widener Indoor Meet in early February.
In addition to his Sunday heptathlon events, Ainsley will also compete in the individual high jump, 200-meter dash and 60-meter high hurdles, as well as on the 4x200 relay which enters Sunday as the meet's top seed.
Another returning champion for Haverford is senior Christopher Stadler who earned the 2013 championship's track performer of the meet award after winning the 3,000 and finishing as the runner-up in the 5,000. Stadler's in-season times this winter in the 3,000 (8 minutes, 18.23 seconds) and 5,000 (14:29.68) rank second and third, respectively, on the NCAA Division III performance list.
Entering Sunday as the top seed in the mile is sophomore Charlie Marquardt whose seed time of 4:10.97 is sixth-fastest in the nation. Marquardt will also compete in the 800 and is expected to be a member of the 4x800 quartet for Haverford.
In addition to Ainsley, Stadler and Marquardt, the Fords will be looking to add to their point total in the field events as well as other events on the track.
Sophomore Jonathan Yellets should be a factor in the 200 and 400 individual sprints and as a member of the 4x200 and 4x400 relays. Within the middle-distance races, senior Gebby Keny looks to earn a top-eight finish in the 800 and should be a part of the foursome vying for the win in the 4x800.
Avi Bregman, a senior, and junior David Roza will add to Haverford's perennial strength in the distance races by fighting for points in the 3,000 and 5,000.
Off the track, the Fords have expectations for top-eight finishes from senior Andrew Bennett in the long and triple jumps, and from senior pole vaulter Michael Iannacone. Bennett is seeded within the top eight in both of his events, and Iannacone enters the meet with the third-best height, 4.26 meters (13 feet, 11.75 inches), on the conference's performance list for the event.
Big points for the team total can come from the relays as Haverford has a shot to sweep the four events. It enters the championship as the top seed in the 4x200 and the distance medley relay – which is third nationally – and ranks second in the Centennial in the 4x800 and fourth in the 4x400.
Haverford has averaged 163 points over the past three championship meets which twice, in 2011 (164.5 points) and 2012 (161), has been good enough to take home the Centennial trophy. Last season Johns Hopkins University emerged with the team win, rallying for a five-point cushion over the runner-up Fords on the meet's final event, the 4x400 relay. Hopkins' depth and numbers will again challenge Haverford for supremacy at the 2014 championship.