COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Running fast to beat the impending winter weather, the Haverford College women's indoor track & field team won four of the 12 events that the team entered an athlete in during a strong showing at the Collegeville Classic on Friday evening.
Those five championship performances included two events during which the Fords swept the top two positions. Nora Weathers captured the 800 meter title with a personal best time of 2:19.67. Already ranked in the top 10 in school history for the event, Weathers moves up to ninth on that list after her race on Friday. This time is ranked sixth in Division III as of press time. Amelia Keyser-Gibson placed second in that same event with a mark of 2:24.18. Maggie Heffernan and Sophie Drew also made it a first and second place Haverford finish in the 5,000 meters. Heffernan won the event by nearly two minutes as she finished in a time of 18:18.42, while Drew was second with a time of 20:12.87. Heffernan is now ranked 16th in Division III after Friday evening for that event.
Also in the distance events, Katie Sullivan was the first runner across the line in the mile run with a time of 5:14.14. MaryKate Cavanaugh crossed the line in seventh with a time of 5:35.93, while Molly Allen placed 12th overall with a time of 5:49.43. Claire Sargent highlighted the Fords' field events with a shot put distance of 12.05 meters as she claimed first overall in the event. Anya Bernhard's toss placed her 13th in the event.
Moving over to jumps, Brittany Steele and Elizabeth Reikowski turned in third and fourth place performances in the triple jump. Steele's best jump was 10.30 meters, while Reikowski topped out at 10.21 meters on the night. Emily Williams was Haverford's lone entrant in the long jump. Her leap of 3.99 meters placed her 18th.
Haverford's sprints were headlined by a finalist in both the 60 meter dash and 60 meter hurdles. Mairead Ferry (hurdles) and Steele (dash) each won their preliminary heat to advance to the finals. Ferry placed third overall with a time of 9.99 seconds in the 60 meter hurdle finals after running a time of 9.95 seconds in the preliminary. Steele also finished third in the 60 meter dash finals, just four-thousandths of a second behind the runner-up in a photo finish. She ran her quickest time of the day in that final, crossing the line in 8.098 seconds.
Rounding out action on the track, top 10 finishes from Julia Smith (11:41.71) and Alison Love (11:51.94) were the Fords' two best performances in the 3,000 meters. Yue Xiang and Amy Zamora both competed in the 200 and 400 meter dashes. Xiang was 17th and 25th overall at those respective distances. Zamora turned in a 23rd and 26th place finish. The Fords also entered a 4x400 relay team that placed fourth overall.
Women's track & field will return to the Alumni Field House next Saturday as hosts of the McElligott Invitational on January 30. Action on that day is scheduled to get underway at 11 a.m. The Fords will be at home three of the next four weekends before returning to Ursinus for the Centennial Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship at the end of February.