LOGAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. – The Haverford College men's cross country team delivered a strong performance at Saturday's Rowan Border Battle at South Jersey's DREAM Park, finishing fifth overall with 152 points and edging out conference rival Swarthmore (sixth, 198 points).
Peter LaRochelle led the charge, securing a third-place finish in 24:18.6. The senior set the pace early with a 4:49.3 first mile, maintaining a position near the top of the pack through the three-mile mark and pushing hard to cross the line as Haverford's top runner.
Reza Eshghi followed up in 21st place, finishing in 25:15.0. Eshghi started strong, staying close to LaRochelle through the early splits, before falling into fifth at the three-mile marker. He settled into a rhythm to deliver a key low score for the Fords.
Luke de Valpine (32nd, 25:34.8) and Seamus Fraser (41st, 25:44.1) worked together in the middle pack, keeping the team right in contention. Jakob Maiwald sealed the scoring for the Fords with a 73rd-place finish in 26:18.7, helping to secure the fifth-place overall spot for Haverford. Reed Solomon (26:30.4) and Evan Daniels (27:08.1) rounded out the top seven finishers for the Fords. Owen Bluman crossed in 130th place (27:08.1) to round out the Haverford contingent.
No. 16 Lynchburg (49 points) edged out No. 23 Washington & Lee (56 points) for the team title, while conference rival Johns Hopkins, the sixth-ranked team in the nation, took third. Metro Region foe Rowan edged out the Fords for fourth (135 points). JHU's Emmanuel Leblond took the overall individual title.
In the open race that followed the championship 8K, Haverford finished sixth overall with 196 points. Rowan Shigeno led the Fords with a 19th-place finish in 26:41.7. The senior opened with a 5:22.1 mile and maintained his momentum through the three-mile mark, eventually closing the race with a strong kick.
Nicky Elias-Gillette and Deven Abrams finished close together, taking 61st (28:22.3) and 62nd (28:23.8), respectively. Kieran McDonnell rounded out the group that crossed nearly in tandem in 64th, clocking 28:30.8.
Gopal Patel (72nd, 28:46.9) and Reef Kirchner (81st, 29:07.7) rounded out the scoring five, with Patel making a late surge in the final stretch of the race. Cullen Worth (87th, 29:22.4), Seawon Park (90th, 29:28.3), Tate Sheehy (99th, 29:45.8), and Tommaso Wheeler (118th, 30:59.2) were also finishers in the open.
Haverford will now host its second and final home race of the season, the Haverford Invitational, with action slated to begin in the four-mile race at 5 p.m. on the Alumni Cross Country Course.
The event serves as a final tune-up for the Dickinson-hosted 2024 Centennial Conference Championships, which are slated for Saturday, November 2, at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pa.