HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford Men's Indoor Track & Field team opened up the 2018-19 season with the Haverford Holiday Invitational inside the Alumni Field House on Saturday afternoon, competing against teams from Dickinson, Catholic, Eastern, Swarthmore, and Widener. Haverford posted a solid day overall, as two marks that rank within the top 10 in program history were etched into the record books. The Fords finished third in the team scoring with 94 total points.
The 4x400 meter relay squad of Liam Lynch, Oscar Huang, Scott Pollara and Kofi Acheampong finished third overall, crossing in 1:37 to begin the day in a promising fashion on the track for the Fords.
Acheampong was Haverford's top finisher in the 60 meter dash with a second place finish in a time of 7.35. The performance is tied for the ninth-fastest individual mark in program history. Huang finished fourth in 7.5 flat, establishing a new career best in the sprint.
The 200 meters featured Liam Lynch finishing in third with a time of 23:62 while Acheampong crossed in seventh in 24.23, and Oscar Huang was eighth in 24.47. In the 400 meters, Pollara represented Haverford with a fifth-place showing in 54.18. Zach Oji finished fourth overall in the 60 meter hurdles, crossing in 10.50.
Senior Chris Goings finished second in the mile, with a time of 4:34.63. First year Nico Tripeny was second in his indoor debut, with a time of 4:34.80. Hiro Kawakatsu was sixth in 4:37.48 while Ian Woodhouse was seventh in a personal-record 4:37.49. Simon Perales won his heat and finished eighth in a personal record time of 4:37.91. Amos Karlsen also posted a top-10 finish as he crossed in ninth in 4:39.19 in his first collegiate track meet.
The 5,000 meters was a chance for a bevy of Haverford distance runners to test their mettle against some top competition, including defending Centennial Conference individual cross country champion Eric Hermann. Matt Katz paced the Haverford contingent with a time of 15:48.10 in his 5,000-meter debut while Conor Madden finished ninth in 15:56.85. Jack Hunter raced into the top 10 with a time of 15:57.67.
In field events, Ethan Gadra made an impressive collegiate debut in the pole vault, with a fifth place finish. His mark of 3.95 meters is the seventh best individual mark in Haverford history. Oji finished fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 11.56 meters. Rohan Shukla finished fifth with a mark of 11.39 meters.
Silvan Sooksatan was Haverford's lone entrant in the high jump, finishing seventh overall with a mark of 1.65 meters. In the long jump, Sooksatan narrowly missed a career-best mark with a 6.02 meters mark, good for a seventh place finish. Andrew Lummus finished ninth for Haverford (5.55m) while Shukla was 10th (5.54m).
With the lone meet of the 2018 portion of the schedule complete, the Fords will now break for the winter holidays before returning to action at the TCNJ Invitational at the Armory in New York on January 12.