HAVERFORD, Pa. – Junior Henry Woods and sophomore Greg Morgan will represent Haverford Men's Outdoor Track and Field at the 2017 NCAA Division III Championships. The national meet will be held at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio from Thursday, May 25 through Saturday, May 27. The meet is hosted by the University of Mount Union.
The top 20 declared performers in each event qualified for the championships, which begin on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. with the discus throw and decathlon action. For the Fords, the journey begins with Greg Morgan taking part in the 1,500 meter preliminaries at 2:45 p.m. The top four finishers in each of the preliminary heats, as well as the next four best overall times, will qualify for the finals of the event at 2:45 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
Morgan solidified a spot in the event with a time of 3:51.00 at the Swarthmore Final Qualifier last week. Morgan picked up All-Mideast Region designation in 2017 as the second-year runner earned Mideast regional honors in each running season during the 2016-17 academic year. Morgan will be competing in his second NCAA Championship event after making his debut in the Cross Country National Championship in 2016.
Last season, Charlie Marquardt '16 represented the Fords in the 1,500m distance, picking up an All-America certificate in the process.
The 5,000 meter run, which is contested as a finals only event without a preliminary round of heats, is scheduled to take place at 3:25 p.m. on Saturday afternoon and is the penultimate men's event on the championship docket.
Woods also used the Swarthmore Final Qualifier to secure a trip to nationals. His personal-best time of 14:26.36 at Swarthmore earlier this month was the 10th-best performance in program history. Woods continues an already illustrious campaign that has seen the New Yorker qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2016 in the DMR while picking up All-Mideast and All-Centennial honors in each of the last two indoor and outdoor track & field seasons.
No stranger to the NCAA stage, Woods picked up an All-American Certificate after a 22nd place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall of 2016. Woods became the 34th cross country All-American in program history.
Chris Stadler was the last Haverford runner to contest the 5,000 meter at the national outdoor championships, taking home the NCAA title in the distance in 2014.
Haverford has posted an Outdoor Track All-American in each of the last 16 seasons and has finished the top 20 at the national meet in three of the last five seasons.
Live timing and a video stream of all three days of action will be available via the NCAA Championships Central and links on HaverfordAthletics.com.