CHESTER, Pa. - On a seasonable Friday evening, the Haverford College women's track & field team competed on day one of the Widener Invitational on Friday, kicking off a busy weekend in Chester. 

Katie Hirsche competed in the 5,000 meters for the first time outdoors in the 2023 season. The sophomore has a personal best of 17:50.07 in which she ran indoors on February 4. She didn't quite reach that mark, but Hirsche performed well with a fourth place finish.

Hirsche ran 18:02.17 and was the second Division III athlete to cross the finish line only being bested by Gabriella Nye from Widener and two athletes from Penn. Her teammate, Julianna Watson, also competed in the event, finishing with a time of 20:57.94.

Also competing for the Fords on Saturday was Kayla Robinson, who finished seventh in the shot put with a throw of 11.33 meters (37 feet, 2.25 inches). Sarah Wilcher rounded out the day with an 11th place finish in shot put, throwing out to 11.05 meters (36 feet, 2 inches).

Action continues tomorrow at the Widener Invitational for day two of the festivities. The first event is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.