HAVERFORD, Pa. – Much like the women's cross country team successfully did this fall, the Haverford College women's indoor track & field team will be looking for new faces to help keep the Fords among the upper echelon within the Centennial Conference while staying on the national radar this winter. Haverford is coming off of second-place finish at the Centennial Conference Championships last winter, but will need to replace a talented Class of 2018 which combined for six Centennial Conference Championship performances and numerous other All-CC selections throughout their indoor careers.
The good news for the Fords is that several of those new stars who emerged during the cross country season will now look to carry that success onto the indoor surface. In the distance events, Haverford returns all four legs of its runner-up 4x800 relay from 2018 in Molly Hawkins, Hannah Yeakey, Hannah Doll, and Sophie Drew. Each of those individuals, who earned second-team All-CC accolades in 2018, should be well prepared for the start of track & field as that group is all coming off of strong showings in cross country, highlighted by Doll's appearance at the national championships.
Those same four runners made up the third-place DMR at the last year's conference meet which turned in the ninth fastest relay in Haverford history. Co-captain Drew as also a member of the 2016 DMR which won the Centennial Conference Championship. She was also a scoring runner during the 800 meter indoor championship last winter. Griffin Kaulbach and Mariana Ramirez joined Drew in the 800 meters a season ago. Others looking to make the smooth transition to track will be co-captain Julia Smith and Angie Petrichenko. Those two runners placed 16th and 17th, respectively, at last year's conference championship as they ran in the 5,000 meter race.
Jessica Lopez highlights the returning sprinters who will be bolstered by the incoming class as five of the 10 newcomers to this year's team look to make their impact in the sprinting events. Lopez placed fifth in the 60 meter dash at last year's conference meet. She is tied with co-captain Marisa Antinori as both rank as the fourth quickest runners in school history for that event. Lopez's success was not limited to the sprints; however, as she placed fourth in the triple jump. Sophia Nelson will join the team this spring after a semester abroad. She holds the ninth quickest 60 meter dash time in school history and also contested the long jump at the conference meet. Adding even more depth to the sprint squad will be Tess Oberholtzer, who holds the eighth fastest 60 meter hurdle time in program history.
Kerry Quigley is a returning All-American for the Fords as she was a member of Haverford's record-breaking DMR during the 2016 season as that relay went on to place third at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Quigley competed in the jumping events at last year's championship meet, with a sixth-place finish in the triple jump and seventh-place showing in the long jump. Haverford will also be contesting the pole vault again this year as Grace Mathis returns from a semester abroad in the spring of 2018. Now a senior, Mathis was sixth during both the indoor and outdoor championships as a sophomore and holds the fourth best mark in school history. Louis Bednarik has also pole vaulted in the past and ranks 10th in Haverford history for that event. Junior Unique Tuberville and sophomore Mari Horton will make up Haverford's throwers. Both are set to compete in both track seasons this academic year and are coming off of strong performances during the 2018 outdoor season.
The indoor track & field season gets underway on Saturday, December 8 as the Fords host the Haverford Holiday Meet which is slated for a 10:30 a.m. start inside the Alumni Field House. The 2019 Centennial Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships are slated for Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24 at Ursinus.