ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Haverford College women's outdoor track & field team sits in third place overall with 40 points after the second day of the Centennial Conference Championships. The Fords had five scoring performances on the second day and put themselves in position for big points tomorrow with eight qualifiers to the finals in their respective events.
The Fords biggest scoring event of the afternoon came in the steeplechase. Maggie Heffernan beat her seed time by over 11 seconds to finish third in the field. Heffernan's time of 11:11.20 moves her up to fourth in school history in the event. Nicole Giannetti finished right behind her in fourth place. Giannetti also ran a personal record time of 11:46.88, solidifying her spot as 10th in school history in the event.
Haverford also finished second overall in the first relay contested of the weekend. The Fords scored the most combined relay points at the indoor track & field championships. The 4x800 relay team of Amelia Keyser-Gibson, Katherine Greifeld, Sarah Wade and Katie Sullivan finished in a time of 9:26.62. That mark makes this relay the fourth quickest in school history.
Emily Anderson moved all the way up to second in school history with a huge PR in the discus. The Haverford freshman, competing in her first Centennial Conference Track & Field Championship after playing basketball during the indoor season, unleashed a toss of 123 feet, 11 inches. That throw of 37.77 meters moves her within 10 feet of the school record.
Haverford's final scoring performance of the afternoon came with the completion of the heptathlon. Robin Chernow finished the heptathlon with 3,244 points, placing fifth overall in the field. Chernow's best placement among her heptathlon peers came in the 800 meters where she finished in a time of 2:41.71. Chernow also placed sixth in the javelin (20.61 meters) and seventh in the long jump (4.11 meters).
Of the eight qualifiers to championship races on Sunday, three of those Haverford athletes will compete in the 800 meters. The top seed in the event, Nora Weathers, won her heat in a time of 2:18.96 to advance. Sullivan finished second in her heat with a time of 2:16.15. That time makes her the seventh fastest individual in school history. Greifeld claimed the final qualifying slot with a time of 2:19.76.
Mairead Ferry and Carolyn Oehrig will represent Haverford in the 100 meter hurdles on Sunday. Ferry qualified fourth overall with a time 15.58 seconds. Running in the same heat, Oehrig finished in a time of 16.56 to claim the last slot in the finals.
Brittany Steele qualified for both the 100 and 200 meter finals. Steele's time of 12.72 seconds ranked her second in the 100 meters. She posted the top time in her heat. In the 200 meters, Steele qualified sixth with a time of 26.44 seconds. Also qualifying sixth was Sedona Murphy in the 400 meters. Murphy qualified with a time of 1:00.81.
The Centennial Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships wrap up on Sunday. The women's slate of events starts with the javelin at 11 a.m. and continues through the running of the 4x400 relay which is slated for a 3:55 p.m. start time. The awards ceremony will follow at 4:15 p.m.