HAVERFORD, Pa. – Jessica Lopez won a pair of events to lead the Haverford College women's indoor track & field team at the McElligott Invitational on Saturday. The Fords scored 140 points at the meet, finishing runner-up to Division II Holy Family. The Fords have still not been bested by a Division III team in any of the team's first three meets of the year.
Lopez won both on the track and in the field. The sophomore took home the 60 meter dash title in a time of 8.17 seconds. She was one of five scoring performances for the Fords in that event as Marisa Antinori (8.53 seconds), Jasmine Reed (8.64 seconds), Tess Oberholtzer (8.83 seconds), and Kerry Quigley (9.22 seconds) swept the fifth through eighth place spots. Lopez also won the triple jump with her best leap being marked at 10.54 meters. That distance of 34 feet, nine inches ties her for seventh in Haverford's Top 10 record book. Quigley (9.82 meters; 32'-2.75") and Grace Mathis (9.35 meters; 30'-8.25") claimed the fourth and sixth place finishes.
Lopez also helped Haverford to a pair of third-place finishes in the relays. She teamed up with Antinori, Naomi Fukuda, and Jasmine Reed for a time of 1:51.53 in the 4x200 relay. The 4x400 relay of Reed, Lopez, Small, and Julia Coletti crossed the line in a time of 4:20.31.
In addition to Lopez making her mark in the record books, reigning Centennial Conference Track Athlete of the Week Sophie Drew finished the 3,000 meters in a time of 10:20.77 to rank eighth in school history. She placed fourth and was followed to the finish line by Griffin Kaulbach with a time of 10:31.81. Fellow senior Julia Smith added another scoring performance with a time of 11:06.20, finishing eighth, while Izzy Miller (11:07.42) just missed a top eight spot.
The biggest mark in the school record books came in the shot put. Mari Horton's personal-best throw of 10.94 meters (35'-10.75") moved her up to seventh on Haverford's all-time list. Unique Tuberville also cracked the top ten with a throw of 10.45 meters (34'-3.5"). Those marks claimed second and third place finishes for the Fords. Ana Legaspi (8.44 meters; 27'-8.25") just missed a scoring performance as she placed ninth.
Haverford also had a number of runner-up finishes. Molly Hawkins finished runner-up in the mile only to All-American Annick Lamar '08 who returned back to the Alumni Field House as an unattached entrant. Hawkins finished with a time of 5:28.59. Mathis cleared 2.75 meters (9-0.25") to tie for the best height all day in the pole vault, but did so in more attempts and was credited with a second-place finish. Fukuda's best long jump was marked at 4.75 meters (15'-7"). Sophia Nelson (4.48 meters; 14'8.5"), Quigley (4.48 meters; 14'8.5"), and Antinori 4.34 meters (14'-3") swept the fourth through sixth place marks.
Also in action on the track, Tess Oberholtzer led Haverford in the 60 meter hurdles (10.30 seconds) and 200 meter dash (28.65 seconds). Louise Bednarik added a sixth place finish to the hurdles group, complementing Oberholtzer's third-place time. In addition to their success on the relay, Coletti (1:03.83) and Small (1:04.64) added respective fourth and sixth place showings in the 400 meters. Jolie Jaycobs led the Fords with a fifth-place time in the 800 meters (2:31.27). Amalia Axinn (2:33.37) and Hannah Yeakey (2:33.91) also grabbed the final two scoring spots in that event.
Rounding out Haverford's action this week was a sixth-place finish in the pentathlon from Louise Bednarik at Widener's Jumps and Throws meet. She scored 1,690 points at Widener to become the program's fourth-highest scoring individual all-time.
Women's indoor track & field will also be at two meets next weekend. Up first will be a trip to the NYU Armory Invitational on Friday, February 1. The majority of the Fords will be back in action at Ursinus' Frank Colden Invitational on Saturday, February 2.