EWING, N.J. - The Haverford College women's outdoor track and field team made its presence known on Saturday at the Lions Invitational hosted by The College of New Jersey.
Several Fords registered career-best performances as the squad took full advantage of its final tune-up before next weekend's Centennial Conference championships.
Leading the effort was junior Hope Rainey who finished the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a career-best time of 11 minutes, 24.51 seconds to place third. Also coming up with a career-best performance was senior Andrea Tocci who followed in fourth (11:30.40). Junior Chelsea Thorsheim and freshman Maggie Heffernan finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Rainey now sits atop the Centennial performance list with Tocci, Thorsheim and Heffernan occupying the next three spots.
Cara Keifer also delivered a career-best effort on Saturday as the senior was the top finisher among Division III competitors in the 1,500m. Keifer's third-place time of 4:40.15 ranks fifth among conference performances this season. Sophomore Katie Balmer (seventh) and seniors Sara Hess (ninth) and Kara McMahon (10th) also cracked the top 10 with season-best times.
Freshman Nora Weathers joined Keifer as the top D-III finisher in her race as Weathers placed fifth in the 800 with a career-best time of 2:16.71.
Sophomore Margaret Duffy just missed a top-10 finish in the 5,000m with a career-best time of 19:36.05.
Improving her career-best time for the second time in as many outings, senior Hannah Davis' time of 1:04.85 was good for sixth in the 400m hurdles.
Davis also helped the 4x100 relay team to a third-place finish. Joining Davis in registering the third-best time in the conference this season were Sedona Murphy, Emma Kornetsky and Katie Bigay.
Standout performances were not limited just to the track as senior Allison Guindon established a new career-best mark in the pole vault. Guindon reached 2.90 meters (9 feet, 6.25 inches) to improve upon her previous best performance by several inches.
Seniors Kornetsky and Dominique Meeks delivered season-best efforts in the triple jump and discus, respectively.
Haverford returns to action on Friday when it travels to Ursinus College for the opening day of the conference outdoor championships.