2019 Centennial Conference Championships Central
HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's track & field team will open up the Centennial Conference outdoor championships on Friday in Allentown, Pa. on the campus of Muhlenberg College. The three-day meet will continue to Sunday, May 5. Haverford has finished second during each of the last five seasons after winning the Centennial Conference title in 2012 and 2013. Haverford has never finished below second place at the Centennial Conference outdoor meet.
Haverford has made a splash on the national stage throughout the season, and enters the outdoor conference meet as the No. 18 team in the fifth weekly release of the National Ratings Index going into the conference championship slate. The weekly rankings, first introduced during the 2011 campaign, use mathematical formulas to compile a team's standing using the current week's national qualifying lists as well as performance data from the previous season. The purpose of the rankings is to create an index that identifies the squads that have the best potential of success at the NCAA Division III National Championships in May.
The Fords will again head to the conference championships with a bevy of projected scoring finishes, with Haverford student-athletes taking the top overall seed in four events.
The action begins on the track at 6:30 p.m. Friday as the Fords compete in the 10,000 meters. Senior Graham Peet headlines the loaded conference field as he comes into the contest with the top seed time (30:06.59) by over 50 seconds. Junior David Watt is seeded fourth (31:55.04), while junior Connor Madden will also contest the race to wrap up up the first night of action in Allentown.
Peet is also the top seed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (12:25 p.m. Saturday), as the reigning conference champion and third-place finisher at nationals last season enters the event with an impressive seed time of 9:10.79. Senior Ryan Herlihy is seeded second in the event (9:14.11) despite competing in steeplechase for the first time this season, while first-year Peter Buckley and sophomore Jack Hunter are also projected scorers for the Fords. First-year Ryan O'Donnell is also entered in the steeplechase while sophomore Jacob Landsberg will contests the 800 meters, as he enters as the 16th seed in that event.
Senior Greg Morgan enters as the top seed in both the 1,500 meters and the 5,000 meters as he will attempt to capture a pair of golds in just a matter of hours on Sunday. Morgan, the reigning indoor national champion in the 3,000-meters, has the top 1,500-meter time in all of Division III entering the meet (3:48.10), as well as a top-five time nationally in the 5,000 meters (14:20.29). The 1,500-meter race will kickoff at 11:50 a.m., while the 5,000 meters is the final individual event, slated for 3:05 p.m.
Senior Liam Lynch, a four-time indoor conference champion in the 400 meters, will attempt to reprise that impressive feat in the outdoor season, as his 49.97 seed time is third in the Centennial. Lynch is the only four-time indoor 400-meter champion in the history of the conference. Senior Oscar Huang will also compete for the Fords in the 400, as he is projected to finish ninth. In the 200 meters, senior Kofi Acheampong (22.96) is seeded seventh. The senior will also represent Haverford in the 100 meter dash, where he enters as the 10th seed (11.52).
Haverford will again be well represented in the relays, with the 4x100 squad and the 4x400 grouping both entering as the fourth-seeded teams. The Haverford 4x800 squad enters without a seed time, but is coming off a second-place finish during the indoor championships and is sure to be one of the top contenders for the gold.
In field events, sophomore Silvan Sooksatan enters as the 11th seed in the high jump, joining junior Cameron Albrecht and senior Chris Glazer in that event. Sooksatan will also represent the Fords in the long jump, while sophomore Andrew Lummus is seeded fifth in the triple jump. Senior Zach Oji will also represent Haverford in the triple jump.
Senior Greg Van Aken will look for a scoring perofrmance in the pole vault, as he enters as the seventh seed, with a mark of 3.95 meters.
Fans can follow all of the action from the Centennial Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships via the links above. A live video stream of selected events as well as live results, peformance lists, and a detailed schedule for all three days of events is available via the Centennial Conference Championships Central page.