HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College men's outdoor track and field team is looking to claim its third straight Centennial Conference Title at the conference championships this weekend at Swarthmore College.

The Fords placed second at the indoor conference meet earlier this year and look to respond by winning their 19th league title in the past 21 years. 

"Our team is ready and prepared for the conference meet," commented head coach Tom Donnelly. "The big thing is for our athletes to have fun and go out and do the best that they can."

Haverford is led by a plethora of athletes who have posted top times in 2014. Senior Christopher Stadler directs a stable of runners for the Fords. Stadler was named the Most Outstanding Track Performer at last year's outdoor conference championships and recently ran the fastest time in Division III this season in the 5,000-meter race. His time of 14 minutes, 1.62 seconds is 17 seconds faster than the closest competitor in the league and the seventh fastest in the history of D-III track and field. Stadler is also favored to win the 10,000-meter race.

"Chris is going up against some great competition this weekend," said Donnelly. "He is really going to be pushed but we are expecting great things from him again this year."

The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Athlete of the Week in mid-April, Avi Bregman is on course to finish well at the conference meet with his school-record time of 8:51.30 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Bregman's time is not only the fastest this year in the Centennial, but it was the fastest in the nation and 10th fastest in Division-III history. Teammate David Roza posted the second-best time in the conference in the event, running his personal best of 9:05.60 at the Larry Ellis Invitational.

In the 1,500-meter run Haverford hopes that sophomore Charlie Marquardt can follow in the footsteps of 2013 champion Jordan Schilit and capture the Fords' 11th consecutive Centennial title in the event. Marquardt currently owns the second-fastest time in the Centennial at 3:50.09.

Marquardt will also run in the 800-meter run with senior Gebby Keny. Keny currently sits in second place on the conference heat sheet with his best finish of 1:54.11. Marquardt posted the sixth-quickest result in the Centennial last week at Haverford's home meet with Widener University, crossing the finish line in 1:55.65.

Keny will join Jonathan Yellets in the 400-meter run. The conference has 10 different athletes within 1.85 seconds of each other at the top of the performance list, with Yellets and Keny's top times ranking fifth and sixth, respectively. Yellets will also look to contend in the 200-meter dash. The sophomore's best time of 22.83 is just six-tenths of a second away from a top-eight time in the league.

"We have a lot of great athletes in all of our running events," continued Donnelly. "Bregman, Roza, Marquardt and Keny have all been training really hard and we are eager to see them run in the conference meet."

Haverford hopes to capture more team points in the relay events. In the 4x100-meter relay, the Fords and Johns Hopkins University are the only two schools to have a foursome finish the event in less than 43 seconds. In the 4x400-meter ,Haverford's best result of 3:24.25 was the fourth- fastest in the conference this season.

On the field side, the Fords have several athletes who can finish the weekend with all-conference status. In the jumping events, Haverford is led by junior Gibby Graves. Graves ranks in the top four in the high jump, triple jump and long jump and will try and earn his second conference championship in the high jump after claiming the highest honor in 2012.

"Gibby is a great competitor," added Donnelly. "He loves the pressure situations and has the chance to medal in all three events."

Michael Iannacone will represent the Fords in the pole vault as the senior's best result of 3.95 meters (12 feet, 11.5 inches) is the third-highest height cleared this spring in the conference.

Haverford will be represented by Robert Parry in both the shot put and the discus. The sophomore thrower ranks eighth and 13th in the conference in the shot put and discus, respectively. Parry's best launch in the shot put this year is 12.20 meters (40-0.5) as he tries to become the Fords' first Centennial Champion in the event since Joe Awantang four-peated from 2005 to 2008.

"It has been a pleasant surprise to see our field athletes develop throughout the year," said Donnelly. "We have some great coaches who have prepared these guys to be really good and a lot of them have a chance to pick up some team points in their events."

The conference meet will begin on Friday, May 2 and will run through Sunday, May 4 at Swarthmore College. For additional information on the 2014 Centennial Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships click here.