COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - The Haverford College women's track and field team returned to competition on Saturday, with a trip to Ursinus for the Frank Colden Invitational. Although Haverford sent a small group, there were still many highlight performances from the team on the day.
Haverford's meet was highlighted by Lauren Tanel, who continues to impress in her indoor campaign thus far. Tanel competed in the mile and has continuously dropped her personal record time after each performance. Today was no different. The senior ran 5:29.74, good enough for fourth place overall. The time was better than her previous best of 5:30.22 set last week inside Alumni Field House. That now makes four-straight personal bests this year for Tanel, who is in prime fitness going into the final third of the indoor season.
Angie Petrichenko was a second off of her personal best in the 3000-meter run, but sometimes, a win trumps the time. Petrichenko's confidence this season can still stand pretty high after last weekend's meet off. The senior took home first place in the race with a time of 10:17.43. Katie Hirsche also impressed in the race, crossing the line in third place with a time of 10:35.72.
Another first-place finish came from the 4x200 relay squad, which remains undefeated this season. The relay in Collegeville was the closest contest of the year. Still, the team of Naomi Fukuda, Jahsaiah Moses, Isabel Thornberry, and Rachel November kept the rest of the teams at bay. Thanks to some efficient handoffs and tactical racing, the group continues to get better. Fukuda handed off the baton in second place, but the race was undoubtedly close after the first leg. Moses made sure to take the lead early in her leg, and the team never looked back. With work to do, Thornberry and November had to be composed in their running, which is usually challenging to do from the front. In the end, it was enough to hold off the other relay teams, crossing the finish line in 1:50.66.
Again, Haverford had decent showings across other events. In the 5000 meter run, Krysta Nichols finished seventh overall as she crossed the line in 20:08.17. Ella Fleming and Annemarie Wood competed in the 800-meter run, running 2:33.96 and 2:38.41, respectively. For the sprinters, Moses took her talents to the 400-meter dash this week, finishing sixth overall with a time of 1:02.94.
In the 200-meter dash, Fukuda earned tenth place overall, sprinting her way to the finish line in 28.14 seconds. Alice Creed rounded out the top performances for the Fords, who's been holding steady all season in the pole vault. Creed finished fifth in the event with a clearing height of 2.75 meters (9.02 feet).
The Fords will head to Staten Island, N.Y., for the Fasttrack National Invitational at the Ocean Breeze Complex for the next meet on February 11. The meet is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.