LOGAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. – The No. 25 Haverford College men's cross country team placed fourth overall out of 29 teams at the always challenging Rowan Inter-Regional Border Battle on Saturday. The Fords were topped only by three top-10 teams nationally, but defeated No. 22 Dickinson and No. 32 NYU during a strong team showing.
Capped at 10 entrants in the championship race, the Fords saw eight of those runners crack the 26-minute mark as Haverford's first through eighth finishers were separated by just over 30 seconds. Max Brelig led the Fords to the finish line as he placed 25th overall in the championship field which featured 256 total competitors. Brelig's time of 25:02.5 was one of six personal best times in the championship field for the Fords. Matt Katz also turned in a personal-best time of 25:11.1 to place 36th overall.
Continuing to hit the finish line in quick succession, Sam McCalpin (25:23.3) and Conor Madden (25:25.1) crossed in back-to-back positions, as did Ryan Kredell (25:30.6) and Peter Buckley (25:30.8) just seconds later. Just one finisher was in between Haverford's fifth and sixth runners before Aaron Bratt (25:32.5) and David Watt (25:33.4) came across the line. Madden, Buckley, Bratt, and Watt all ran personal best times on Saturday. Nico Tripeny (26:27.1) and Jack Hunter (26:54.8) also ran in the championship race for the Fords.
Haverford's success was not limited to the championship field. The Fords placed second overall in the open race, displaying great potential for the future as they avenged a championship race defeat to Johns Hopkins with an additional nine PRs out of 14 entrants in the open race. Nathaniel Leighninger (26:03.7) and Hiro Kawakatsu (26:11.1) each turned in personal best times to go along with their respective fifth and eighth place finishes. Simon Perales (26:42.6) and James Barker (26:52.4) were also top 20 finishers in the field.
Ryan O'Donnell (27:02.2), Amos Karlsen (27:21.2), Scott Kaiser (27:34.4), and Steve Gan (28:10.3) made it a string of four consecutive personal bests to hit the finish for Haverford before Jacob Gaba (28:22.4), William Hillegas (28:27.8), and Charlie Ferguson (28:28.5) came across as a trio. Three more personal bests from Ryan Quenemoen (28:32.8), Jack Fanikos (29:13.4), and Michael Franco (31:23.6) wrapped up Haverford's finishers on the day.
Men's cross country will now be in action for the second straight week as the Fords host the Haverford Invitational this Friday, October 25. The men's race will be a 5 p.m. start on the Alumni Cross Country Course. The 2019 Centennial Conference Championship race is now just two weeks away. That meet will be hosted by Gettysburg on Saturday, November 2.