CHESTER, Pa. – The Haverford College men's outdoor track & field team continued its season at the Chester Quarry Classic on Saturday afternoon on the campus of Widener University, with multiple impressive performances contributing to the scoring. Senior Chris Goings captured the 800-meter crown, crossing the finish in 1:56.37 for the event title. Junior Hiroshi Kawakatsu was fourth in 1:57.32, setting a new personal best in the distance.
In field events, senior Greg Van Aken was another standout, as he set a new career-best in the pole vault, clearing 3.95 meters (12'-11.5") for a third-place finish. Van Aken narrowly missed a spot on Haverford's all-time outdoor top 10 list.
First-year Nico Tripeny paced a bevy of Haverford finishers in the 1,500 meters as he raced to a fourth-place finish in 4:04.66, a new personal best time. Fellow first-year Amos Karlsen was just outside the scoring for Haverford, as he finished ninth with a time of 4:13.09 in his collegiate outdoor 1,500-meter debut. Sophomore Jacob Landsberg (4:14.69) and first-year Jeffrey Allen (4:14.90) finished 13th and 14th, respectively, while first-year Scott Kaiser was 16th (4:21.23). Sophomore Matt Katz rounded out the Top 20 finishers with a time of 4:21.23.
Peter Buckley finished second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, crossing in 9:47.75. Haverford had a trio of scorers in the event as sophomore Jack Hunter was right behind Buckley in third with a finish of 9:52.20, and first-year Ryan O'Donnell was sixth in 10:30.42.
In the sprints, senior Kofi Acheampong scored for the Fords with a fifth-place finish in the 100 meters. The senior crossed in 11.64, while fellow senior Oscar Huang was just outside the scoring with a time of 11.90. In the 200 meters, senior Liam Lynch posted a time of 23.09 for a fourth-place finish, while Acheampong was directly behind him in fifth, taking a time of 23.16.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Van Aken, Huang, Acheampong, and Lynch finished fifth in 44.34 while the 4x400-meter relay squad of Goings, Huang, Kawakatsu, and Lynch was third in 3:25.82.
Back on the infield, sophomore Silvan Sooksatan took third in the high jump with a mark of 1.75 meters (5'-8.75"), a new outdoor collegiate best for the sophomore. Senior Rohan Shukla took sixth in the long jump, clearing 5.84 meters (19'-2"), while Sooksatan was seventh with a mark of 5.80 meters (19'-.0.5"). In the triple jump, sophomore Andrew Lummus notched a third-place finish, clearing 12.54 meters (41'-1.75"). Shukla was fifth with a jump of 12.18 meters (39'-11.5"), while senior Zach Oji finished sixth with a jump of 11.95 meters (39'-2.5").
With a solid weekend behind them, the Fords will now ramp up preparations for the Centennial Conference meet as a contingent of distance and middle distance runners are slated for Larry Ellis Invitational at Princerton on Friday, while others head right back to Widener for the two-day Widener Invitational on Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20.