COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – On the second and final day of action at the Centennial Conference Men's Indoor Track and Field championships, the Haverford men picked up three event titles, including a meet record in the 3000m as Dylan Gearinger paced the field to a first place finish.
Liam Lynch took home the 400m crown for the second straight season and the 4x200 meter relay also reprised its gold finish from a season ago. Overall, Haverford finished in second place with a total of 112 points. The Fords were well clear of third place Swarthmore, who finished with 87 points.
Gearinger set the meet record in the 3000m distance with a time of 8:31.84, picking up 10 points for Haverford. The mark is a personal record for the sophomore. Graham Peet (8:41.09) crossed in fourth with a new personal best while Jimmy Gorman (8:43.37) was sixth to also score for Haverford as the duo followed up their 1-2 finish in the 5000m a day ago.
Liam Lynch posted a time of 50.30 to win the 400m dash. Lynch is now a five time Centennial Conference champion, adding the two wins today to his total of three wins from last season. The time he posted in the 400m is amongst the fastest in program history. Lynch already owns the third fastest 400m dash time with a 49.61 performance back in 2016.
The Fords 4x200m team of Lynch, Alex Frost, Zach Oji and Scott Pollara finished just ahead of Muhlenberg to take home the event title. Haverford crossed the finish line with a time of 1:33.80 while Muhlenberg finished in 1.33.87 .Ursinus was a close third in 1:33.88 as the teams all competed in heat two with a photo finish. The time was the eighth best in Haverford history. Lynch and Frost both were members of the 4x200 event title winning squad from a season ago.
The same four runners just narrowly missed out on yet another event title in the 4x400m relay, finishing second with a time of 3:30.28. Johns Hopkins rallied for the crown with a time of 3:29.56.
Haverford's 4x800 meter relay team of Chris Goings, Henry Woods, Peter Kurtz and Greg Morgan finished in second with a time of 8:00.09, good for the ninth best mark in program history.
Goings finished a narrow second in the 800m run with a time of 1:56.99, a career best. Finishing in sixth was Kurtz with a time of 1:58.40 to also score for Haverford. Greg Morgan finished third in the mile (4:16:62) while Henry Woods was fifth (4:19:39) to pick up points for the Fords.
Oji crossed in sixth to pick up points for Haverford in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.92 while Greg Van Aken posted a career-best mark of 3.91m in the pole vault, a mark that is the eighth best in school history. Jack Brower also scored in the high jump for Haverford, with a mark of 1.71m to wrap up the scoring in field events.
Johns Hopkins took the Centennial Championship. Haverford has now finished first or second in the Centennial Championships in each season dating back to 1999.
The Haverford men will now shift focus to the NCAA Division III Championships. The NCAA meet will be held in Naperville, Illinois on Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11, hosted by North Central College.