SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The Haverford College men's outdoor track & field team competed at the Swarthmore Final Qualifier this evening at Clothier Field, with seniors Greg Morgan and Graham Peet each grabbing career-best performances to improve their standing for qualification to next week's NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Morgan improved on his already stellar 1,500-meter time, finishing 10th as the top Division III entrant in a loaded field of elite runners. His career-best time of 3:46.87 is the ninth-best in program history and gives Morgan the fourth-fastest time in Division III so far this season. Junior Conor Madden was Haverford's second finisher in the distance (4:02.49), while sophomore Matt Katz (career-best 4:03.82), sophomore Jacob Landsberg (career-best 4:11.08), first-year Scott Kaiser (career-best 4:12.03) and first-year Jeffrey Allen (4:13.76) rounded out the entrants for the Fords.
In the steeplechase, senior Graham Peet notched an impressive finish as he posted a career-best 9:09.77 in the event, good for a sixth place tally overall. Peet was the fourth Division III finisher in the event and improved on his performance that came into the day as the 18th-fastest in the country by more than a second. With the top 20 declared entrants for each event selected for nationals, Peet will wait and see if his performance was enough for qualification in the steeplechase. The Vashon, Wash. product also held the sixth-fastest 10,000-meter time in Division III entering competition on Monday.
Fellow senior Ryan Herlihy finished eighth in 9:15.98, while sophomore Jack Hunter crossed in 24th in 10:02.48. Herlihy's time from the Larry Ellis Invitational in April (9:14.11) came into the day as the 22nd-fastest time this season while he also holds a top 25 mark in the 10,000 meters.
A trio of Fords also competed in the 800 meters, with junior Hiroshi Kawakatsu pacing the contingent in 1:58.84, good for a 50th place finish. Senior Chris Goings was 84th in 2:02.86, while Ian Woodhouse was 95th in 2:05.25.
In the 5,000 meters, first-year Max Brelig crossed in 59th with a time of 15:28.20 while junior David Watt crossed in 15:51.72, good for 74th overall.
The Fords will now await the selections for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which are slated for Geneva, Ohio over Memorial Day Weekend. Selections for nationals will be announced on Saturday, May 18 and action in the Buckeye State will begin on Thursday, May 24.