WESTMINSTER, Md. - The 30th-ranked Haverford College men's cross country team raced to a second place finish at the 30th annual Centennial Conference Championships at McDaniel College on Saturday, edged in a tight finish by No. 16 Johns Hopkins, as the Blue Jays tallied 28 points to 40 for Haverford, capturing the title for a second consecutive season. The Blue Jays' Emmanuel LeBlond earned the individual title with a time of 25:24.5, narrowly edging Peter LaRochelle. The two squads were well clear of third-place Dickinson, who scored 77 points.
Haverford put a trio of runners in the top seven for the second consecutive season as junior Peter LaRochelle, senior Nathaniel Leighninger, and junior Seamus Fraser each picked up first- team All-Centennial honors by virtue of their top seven finishes. LaRochelle earned the nod for the second consecutive season while Leighninger and Fraser climbed into the top seven for the first time in their careers.
LaRochelle notched a runner-up showing in 25:32.6, ahead of Leighninger who was the fourth place finisher in 25:52.1. Fraser roared into the top seven with a stellar performance, taking seventh in 26:25.9. Senior Luca Ponticello was also named All-Centennial, earning a second-team nod with a 12th place finish overall in 26:55.8.
Just outside the All-Conference placements, senior Matthew Denton grabbed a 15th place finish overall (27:04) to round out the Haverford scorers while junior Reza Eshghi finished 20th (27:24.9), and senior Sammy Schindel closed out the top seven in 28th overall (27:47.7).
Sophomore Micah Lachman crossed in 33rd (27:58.2), while sophomore Jakob Maiwald was right behind his classmate in 34th (27:59). Junior Reed Solomon (28:23.7) was the 43rd place finisher, while junior Evan Daniels also notched a top-50 showing on Saturday, crossing 49th (28:46.2). Senior William Harris rounded out the Haverford contingent in 57th overall (29:08.4).
Haverford also picked up a Hood Trophy point by virtue of men's cross country finishing above Swarthmore, as the Garnet finished fourth overall, scoring 89 points.
Men's Cross Country will return to action on Saturday, November 11 (11 a.m.) at the NCAA Division III Metro Regional, which will be held at the Gloucester County DREAM Park in Logan Township, N.J.
Haverford is the two-time defending champion of the Metro Region, and has tallied 26 NCAA regional titles overall. Haverford would sew up a 30th consecutive trip to the national championships by completing the three-peat in the Garden State.