HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College men's track & field team hosted its only home meet of the 2024 season, The Haverford Tri-Meet, on Monday at Johnson Track. The event saw numerous personal bests and strong performances, serving as one of the final tune-ups for the Centennial Conference Championships scheduled for the following weekend.
In the 800 meters, Matthew Denton led the pack with a time of 1:55.76, narrowly beating out Reza Eshghi who finished in 1:56.39, marking a new personal-best for the junior. Reed Solomon secured third place with a time of 1:58.15, while Owen Bluman achieved a personal-record time of 1:58.31, placing fourth. Gopal Patel also set a personal best with a time of 2:04.5, crossing the finish line in seventh place.
Micah Lachman dominated the 1,500 meters, clocking in at a career-best 4:01.59, securing a significant lead of over 11 seconds ahead of the competition. Luke de Valpine achieved a personal best of 4:13.03, claiming second place, followed by William Harris in fourth with a time of 4:20.74.
Kieran McDonnell set a personal best of 4:32.98, finishing sixth, while Xingyun Yang achieved a career-best time of 4:34.28, placing seventh. Deven Abrams finished eighth in 4:35.19, followed by Rowan Shigeno in ninth with a time of 4:36.95. Seawon Park set a personal best of 4:38.69, securing 10th place, while Cullen Worth also achieved a personal best of 4:39.71, finishing 11th.
In the 100-meter preliminaries, Jonah Hoffman-Weitsman achieved a personal best of 11.83, with Matthew Ruiz finishing second at 12.39, and Boahen Kwakye in third with 12.56. Hongyi Zhang secured fifth place with a time of 14.39. Ruiz emerged as the top finisher in the finals with a time of 12.46, followed by Kwakye at 12.61, and Zhang at 14.77.
Jonathan Hill continued his exceptional season by clinching the title in the 200 meters with a time of 22.29, leading the pack ahead of Jason Mayo (23.85), Hoffman-Weitsmann (25.50), Ruiz (26.03), Kwakye (personal best of 26.52), Kevin Villafane (26.65), and Zhang (31.05).
Ravi Eaton claimed the top spot in the long jump, clearing 6.55 meters (21 feet, 6 inches), while Nathan Ma finished second with a clearance of 6.04 meters (19 feet, 9.75 inches). Villafane secured third place in the pole vault, clearing 2.55 meters (8 feet, 4.25 inches).
In the throwing events, Tiger Wang achieved third place in the shot put with a distance of 9.86 meters (32 feet, 4.25 inches), while Rocky Luan finished fifth with a toss of 8.89 meters (29 feet, 2 inches). In the discus, Jonah Levine secured second place with a personal best throw of 26.8 meters (87 feet, 11 inches), followed by Wang in third with 26.57 meters (87 feet, 2 inches). Luan finished fifth with a career-best throw of 20.93 meters (68 feet, eight inches).
Luan also emerged as the top finisher in the hammer throw with a distance of 26.02 meters (85 feet, four inches), setting a new personal record and claiming the 10th-best toss in program history. Wang finished sixth with a career-best throw of 24.91 meters (81 feet, nine inches).
In the javelin, Wang secured the top spot with a personal best toss of 43.21 meters (141 feet, nine inches), while Mayo finished second with a personal best of 41.95 meters (137 feet, 7 inches).
Following Monday's meet, select members of the team will compete in the prestigious Penn Relays at Franklin Field this weekend. Peter LaRochelle will kick off the action on Thursday at 10:30 p.m. with a stint in the collegiate 10,000 meters.