MEDFORD, Mass. – The Haverford College women's indoor track & field team crowned three champions at the Tufts Stampede Saturday in Massachusetts. Kelley Riffenburgh won the 3,000 meters to highlight the day in the distance races. Sedona Murphy (400 meters) and Katherine Greifeld (800 meters) were also champions in their respective races.
Riffenburgh won the 3,000 meters by nearly 12 seconds over her closest competitor with a time of 10:23.92. Her time makes her the seventh fastest individual in school history in the event, while also recording the 24th fastest time in NCAA Division III as of press time this season. Maggie Heffernan (10:42.03) finished third overall for the Fords in the event.
Haverford also claimed the first and third positions in the 800 meters as Greifeld, the reigning Centennial Conference Track Athlete of the Week, won by just over two seconds in a personal best time of 2:23.07. Missing out on the runner-up slot by two-tenths of a second, Katie Balmer placed third overall (2:25.52).
Murphy took the 400 meter crown in a tightly contested race. She crossed the line with a personal best mark of 1:02.23. Murphy clipped the tape just eight-hundredths of a second before Middlebury's Perri Silverhart claimed second place.
Haverford also put four runners in the top 10 in the one mile race. Katie Sullivan led that field with a time of 5:15.69, finishing fourth overall. She was just ahead of Nicole Giannetti's fifth place time of 5:20.16. Nora Weathers (5:23.48) and Sarah Wade (5:28.21) placed seventh and ninth, respectively. In the 5,000 meters, Charlotte Lellman (18:49.28) and MaryKate Cavanaugh (19:40.41) also turned in top 10 finishes with seventh and ninth place times.
Highlighting the sprinters was a trip to the finals in the 60 meter hurdles from Carolyn Oehrig. Oehrig qualified with a time of 10.23 and backed that up with a time of 10.27 in the finals for an eighth place finish. Oehrig also led the Fords in the 200 meters with a time of 28.65, placing 11th in that event. Mairead Ferry finished in a time of 8.55 to lead Haverford in the 60 meter dash.
The Fords placed three relays among the top five in their respective races. The 4x800 team (Riffenburgh, Wade, Giannetti, Greifeld) finished second overall to Boston College in a time of 9:56.76. The 4x400 team (Murphy, Sullivan, Ferry, Balmer) placed third overall in a time of 4:13.15. The 4x200 relay (Ferry, Oehrig, Amy Zamora, Yue Xiang) was fifth overall, finishing with a mark of 1:55.97.
The field events were highlighted by a fifth place finish from Claire Sargent in the shot put. With a personal best distance of 11.46 meters (36'7.25"), Sargent moved up one spot to fifth in the Fords' record book in the event. Her new personal best came on her final throw of the afternoon.
In the triple jump, Elizabeth Reikowski led a trio of Haverford competitors as she leaped 10.04 meters (31'11.25"). That mark landed her seventh overall on the afternoon. Kimberly Haughton was the Fords' lone individual in the long jump. Her last jump 4.35 meters (14'3.25") placed her 12th in the field.
Now that the calendar will make the turn to February, the Fords will be at home three different weekends in the upcoming month. This span includes hosting the Centennial Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships at the end of the month. However, the next home date will be this coming Friday and Saturday as the team hosts the McElligott Invitational.