Centennial Conference Championship Central
Heat Sheets: Saturday | Sunday
HAVERFORD, Pa. – The 2015 Centennial Conference Championships return to the Alumni Field House with Haverford serving as host of the conference meet. The women's indoor track & field team has 33 entries into the field, 19 of which are seeded in top eight (scoring positions) for the Fords.
Haverford has claimed 14 seeds among the top five across all 18 events on the women's side. The Fords' relay teams will look to provide a huge scoring lift as Haverford is seeded first overall in the 4x800 meter relay. The team's best time this season of 9:56.76 is over 40 seconds faster than its closest competitor to date. Haverford also has the second ranked distance medley relay (12:33.96) - the seventh quickest in school history overall.
The Fords are also seeded third in the 4x400 relay (4:13.15) and fifth in the 4x200 relay (1:51.98). Haverford's fifth ranked relay team is just 1.25 seconds behind the top seed in the conference. Haverford earned 21 points between the four relays last season with two third place finishes in the 4x400 and DMR, complemented by a fourth place and fifth place finish in the 4x200 and 4x800, respectively.
Last year's rookie of the meet, Brittany Steele, enters the weekend seeded second in the 60 meters (8.08) and fourth in the 200 meters (27.44). Steele is the defending conference champion in both of these events. She ranks first in school history in the 60 meters and second in the 200 meters.
Nora Weathers turned in a third place finish at last year's championship meet during the indoor mile. She enters this weekend seeded eighth in the event (5:13.99). Both Weathers and Sarah Wade, seeded ninth (5:24.65), will look to score in this event for the Fords.
Distance races will be another big chance for Haverford to score. The Fords have four individuals in the 5,000 meters and two more in the 3,000 meters. Kelley Riffenburgh will run both events this weekend and is seeded fifth overall in these races. Charlotte Lellman provides another scoring threat for the Fords as she is seeded ninth in the 5,000 meters. MaryKate Cavanaugh and Margaret Duffy also enter the 5K field, while Maggie Heffernan is seeded 11th in the 3,000 meters.
In the mid-distance races, Haverford enters three in the 800 meters, all of which are ranked in the top nine. Katie Sullivan is seeded third in the race (2:20.52), while Katherine Greifeld (2:22.74) and Katie Balmer (2:24.12) are ranked sixth and ninth in the field. Another notable seed on the track is Sedona Murphy being ranked fourth in the 400 meters. She is joined in the event by Yue Xiang.
One of the busiest individuals for the Fords this weekend will by Carolyn Oehrig. Oehrig is entered in three individual events. She is seeded fifth in the triple jump, seventh in the 60 meter hurdles and ninth in the 200 meters. Mairead Ferry will enter two individual events in her first Centennial Championship. She is seeded third overall in the 60 meter hurdles and seventh in the pole vault. Natasha Stanley will also enter dual events as she contests the 60 meters and shot put.
However, nobody will be busier than Robin Chernow as she is entered to compete in the pentathlon where she will compete in the 800 meters, 60 meter hurdles, high jump, long jump and shot on Friday. Chernow will also enter the individual shot put on the second day where she is seeded seventh overall. Claire Sargent, seeded fourth, also enters the shot put on Day 2 as will Juanita St. Thomas-Grimes as the 12th seed.
Elizabeth Reikowski will highlight a very deep triple jump team for Haverford. In addition to Oehrig's fifth seed in the event, Reikowski is ranked second in the conference entering the meet. Kimberly Haughton will compete in both the triple jump and long jump this weekend.
The Centennial Conference Championship gets underway Friday with the 5,000 meters, triple jump, women's pentathlon and men's heptathlon. Haverford placed sixth as a team at the 2014 Centennial Conference Indoor Championships. The Fords have placed first or second 16 times in the first 22 years the conference has hosted the meet. This string includes six conference titles, highlighted by a string of five straight from 2006 through 2010.