NEW ORLEANS – The Haverford College men's outdoor track and field team swept the US Track and Field Cross Country Coaches' Association's (USTFCCCA) Mideast Region Awards as junior Charlie Marquardt took home the Track Athlete of the Year while senior Gibby Graves was selected as the Field Athlete of the Year.
Marquardt, who was named USTFCCCA Division III National Athlete of the Week yesterday, has had an outstanding 2014-15 season. In the outdoor season, he became the fifth person and third Ford in conference meet history to win both the 800m and 1,500m races, leading to his Centennial Conference Outstanding Track Performer Award. The junior was also named the Centennial Conference Outstanding Track Performer after winning the 800m, mile and 4x800 relay events at the indoor conference meet. During the cross country season, he won three individual titles including the Centennial Conference Championship and Mideast Regional. He was also named Centennial Conference Runner of the Week twice and the conference Runner of the Year. Marquardt has won seven conference Runner of the Week accolades this year.
At the Centennial Conference Championships, Graves was the first person ever to win the high jump, triple jump and long jump in the same championship meet. The senior set a conference meet record in the high jump (2.06m) which was a personal record and had career high jump of 13.95m in the triple jump. Graves won eight individual titles in the outdoor season and was named Centennial Conference Field Athlete of the Week (Apr. 20).
Haverford will have three runners with seniors Joel Christian (10,000m), David Roza (3,000m steeplechase) and Marquardt (1,500m) participating in the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track Championships hosted by St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y this weekend (May 21-23). The Fords have finished in the top ten each of the past two seasons at the national meet with a tie for sixth place in 2014 and eighth place tally in 2013.