HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's indoor track & field team enjoyed a successful weekend at two different meets as the Fords competed at the Tufts Cupid Challenge and Ursinus' Frank Colden Invitational on Saturday.
With three runners at Tufts, those results were highlighted by Nicole Giannetti running the second fastest 5,000 meter race in program history as she placed fourth overall with a time of 17:25.94. That time is just behind Kelley Riffenburgh's '15 Centennial Conference Championship winning time of 17:24.61 during the 2015 season. Amelia Keyser-Gibson also impressed in that same race as she ran a personal-best time of 17:32.27 and now ranks fifth in school history for the indoor 5,000 meters.
Due to the track size, those times convert to what would both have been school record marks of 17:17.99 and 17:24.28. With the conversions, those times have Giannetti and Keyser-Gibson ranked 16th and 19th, respectively, in Division III as of press time. Keyser-Gibson is also ranked 15th nationally in the mile from her time at the McElligott Invitational. Also competing at Tufts on Saturday was fellow senior Katie Sullivan. Sullivan had the highest placement of the day as she was third in the mile with a time of 5:10.46.
At Ursinus, the Fords won the 4x800 relay with a time of 10:03.37 which was over 17 seconds faster than their closest competition. Haverford also had numerous top 10 finishes with the majority of those coming in the distance events.
Sophie Drew finished as the runner-up in the mile with a time of 5:13.89 while teammate was Hannah Yeakey was fourth in that same event as she came across the line in 5:24.44. The Fords also placed six runners among the top 10 finishers in the 5,000 meters. Julia Smith (19:52.37) led the way with a fourth place finish, with Alison Love (20:04.06) and Angie Petrichenko (20:05.37) as the next two runners across the line. Mckenna Krall (20:27.46), MaryKate Cavanaugh (20:28.99), and Jolie Jaycobs (20:42.01) swept the eighth through 10th positions. In the 3,000 meters, it was Sarah Wade's time of 11:33.37 which led Haverford.
In the sprints, Jessica Lopez finished ninth in the 60 meter dash with a personal-best time of 8.34 seconds in the finals. That mark makes her the eighth fastest individual in program history for that event. She was also Haverford's top finisher in the 200 meters with a time of 28.37 seconds. Grace Pindzola (1:08.25) and Mariana Ramirez (2:37.3) were the Fords' top finishers in their respective 400 meter and 800 meter races.
The field events also featured four top 10 performances. Claire Sargent had the highest of those finishes as she placed third in the shot put with a toss of 12.25 meters. Emily Anderson also cracked the top 10 in the shot put at Ursinus with her best throw being measured at 9.75 meters. Three triple jumpers, Kat Turner (9.37m) and Kerry Quigley (9.36m), also broke into the top 10 for that event.
With a late addition to the schedule, women's track & field will compete at the FastTrack National Invitational at the Armory this coming Friday, February 9. After that, only the Keogh Invitational (Saturday, Feb. 17) awaits the team before the Centennial Conference Championships at Ursinus during the end of the month.