ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Haverford College women's track & field team will head to Muhlenberg this weekend to compete at the 2019 Centennial Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Fords have had at least one individual champion during each of the conference's first 25 outdoor championships and have 10 combined individuals and relays who are ranked inside of the top four that will look to keep that streaking going this weekend.
The Centennial Conference Championship gets underway on Friday afternoon and continues through Sunday. The Fords placed fifth as a team at last year's championship meet as they scored 81 points.
Jessica Lopez is one of Haverford's top threats to capture conference gold as she enters the weekend seeded first in the 100 meter dash. Her personal-best time of 12.54 seconds ranks third in school history. Lopez was also second in the 60 meter dash at the conference meet during the indoor season. Additionally, the Fords' standout sophomore is seeded fifth in the 200 meter dash (26.24 seconds) as she holds the fifth fastest time in Haverford history and was second in that event during the indoor season. Competing in the field events, Lopez added a third All-Centennial Conference accolade this past winter in the triple jump. She is fifth in Haverford's outdoor record books for that event entering this weekend.
Haverford'x 4x100 meter relay is poised to run near the front of the pack as the pairing of Marisa Antinori, Lopez, Naomi Fukuda, and Jasmine Reed turned in the fifth quickest relay in school history to earn the fourth seed at the conference meet. Reed and Antinori are also entered in the 100 meters with Lopez, while Fukuda and Louise Bednarik have qualified for the 200 meter dash. Bednarik will additionally be competing in the heptathlon which gets started on Friday afternoon. Also in the sprints, Tess Oberholtzer is the fourth ranked runner in the 100 meter hurdles.
In the mid-distance and distance events, Sophie Drew is Haverford's top entrant in the 1,500 meters and the 5,000 meters. She is seeded third in the 1,500 meters and has won that event twice already this spring. Jolie Jaycobs, Griffin Kaulbach, and Amalia Axinn will join Drew in the 1,500 meters while Hannah Doll has entered the 5,000 meters for the conference championship. In addition to individual honors, Haverford's 4x800 meter relay is sure to feature some of those same athletes as Drew, Jaycobs, and Kaulbach joined Molly Hawkins for second-team All-CC honors in this event on the indoor surface. Drew and Hawkins were additionally on the second-place relay during last year's outdoor championships.
Haverford looks to be in strong position for big scores in the steeplechase and 10,000 meters. Angie Petrichenko is the second seed in the 10K while Julia Smith and Izzy Miller are also ranked in the top five. Natalia Cordon will also contest this event. Mckenna Krall leads four steeplechase runners who are all in the top 12 for Haverford. Annie Connolly-Sporing, Sophie Schleifer, and Zoe Arditi will also challenge for scoring performances. Wrapping up action on the track, Haverford's 4x400 meter relay is ranked sixth in the conference. Julia Coletti is projected for a scoring performance individually as she is ranked seventh in the 400 meter dash, while Mariana Ramirez and Lauren Tanel will contest the 800 meters. Grace Pindzola is slated to run in the 400 meter hurdles.
Grace Mathis is seeded fourth in the pole vault after breaking the school's outdoor record at Haverford's Midweek Invitational. She will also join Kerry Quigley and Lopez for a strong Haverford contingent in the triple jump. Fiona Flynn is seeded fourth in the long jump after finishing third during that event at the indoor conference championship. Quigely is also competing in the long jump once again this year.
Unique Tuberville is the Fords' school record holder in the hammer throw and comes into the weekend seeded second for that event. Sophia Nelson, holder of the fourth best hammer throw at Haverford, joins her teammate in that event. Tuberville also has the ninth best shot put mark in school history and will look for another strong performance this weekend. Mari Horton holds the fifth best javelin mark in Haverford's history and is just outside of the top 10 in shot put. She will enter both of those events as she is seeded seventh in the javelin and 11th in the shot put.
Fans interested in following the 2019 Centennial Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships can do so through the links above. Live video and live stats will be available throughout the weekend.