Centennial Conference Championship Central
HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Centennial Conference indoor track and field season will come to a conclusion this weekend as the Haverford College men's track & field team will travel to Ursinus College for the 2016 Centennial Conference Championship.
The Fords return two individual champions and look to repeat as winners of two relays from last year when they placed second overall in the event.
Senior Charlie Marquardt, the reigning Centennial Conference Performer of the Year in all three seasons, will defend his title in the mile and the 800 meter distance, and will compete in the 3,000 meters. Marquardt, a senior, made headlines this season when he ran the fifth-fastest mile (4:02.24) in Division III indoor track & field history at the FastTrack National Invite in early February. A week prior, he set a Centennial Conference record in the 3,000 (8:06.56) at the Villanova Invitational.
Haverford has four other runners competing in the 800m event. Senior Ryan Gooding's top run this season clocked in at 1:57.62. Sophomore Tyler Fong had the eighth best time in the conference (1:58.21) while Peter Kurtz was among the top freshmen to qualify (1:58.66). Ian Woodhouse will also be competing in the event.
The Fords boast eight of the top 12 seeded runners in the mile run. After Marquardt, sophomore Henry Woods posted the second-best mile time of the season at 4:17.86 at the Villanova Invitational. Marquardt and Woods also ran the conference's two fastest times in the 3,000 this season. Woods was named the Centennial Conference Outstanding Rookie of the Meet during last year's championship. Junior Michael Brier (4:23.45) ran the fifth-fastest mile in the conference this year. Members of Haverford's team are also seeded No. 8-12 in the mile run.
Joining Marquardt and Woods in the 3,000, Nicholas Gandolfo-Lucia finished in 8:43.74, the fifth-fastest time in the Centennial. The Fords will also enter seven other runners in the 3,000 meter distance.
In the 5,000 meter run, Gandolfo-Lucia will be joined by five other Haverford runners. Dylan Verner-Crist is seeded second (15:09.53), followed by Gandolfo-Lucia (15:10.38), and Jeffrey Duncan (15:15.43).
The 200 meter dash is expected to be competitive as third-seeded Liam Lynch (22.90 seconds) qualified less than a half second behind the top seed. Jonathan Yellets will also be competing for the Fords.
In the relays, the Haverford men hope to repeat as winners in the 4x200. Seeded second in the 4x400, the Fords hope to win the event for the first time since 2005. The Fords also ran the fastest in the distance medley this season (10:00.32), 15 seconds faster than second-seeded Johns Hopkins.
Senior Jeffrey Ainsley will be competing in a number of events including the 60m hurdles, an event which he set a new conference record at last year's Centennial Conference championship with a time of 8.33 seconds. Ainsley will also represent Haverford in the high jump, long jump, and the heptathlon. Ainsley set the program record in the heptathlon during the 2014 CC Championships (4,482 points).
Head coach Tom Donnelly's squad has finished second the past three seasons to Johns Hopkins. The Fords have won 17 of the 22 Centennial Conference indoor titles. Several of Haverford's athletes look to continue their season at the NCAA Division III 2015 Indoor Championship on Mar. 11-12 in Grinell, Iowa.