Centennial Conference Championship Central (Ursinus)
HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's track & field team will head to Ursinus this weekend for the 2018 Centennial Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships. The Fords have 15 entrants seeded among the top eight in the various events throughout the meet, including two No. 1 seeds. Haverford placed third a year ago with 89 total points and two individual champions. The Fords have had at least one individual champion during 23 of the conference's 24 championship meets, with multiple first-place finishes during 15 of those seasons.
Action at Ursinus gets underway this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. with the triple jump and continues through Sunday when the meet wraps up with the 4x400 meter relay on Sunday which is scheduled for a 4:15 p.m. start. Live video and live results will be available through the links provided above.
The mile has become a specialty for the Fords as a Haverford runner has claimed that event title during each of the last two years. Amelia Keyser-Gibson enters as the top seed this weekend, just a couple weeks removed from her first Centennial Conference Track Athlete of the Week award during her standout career. Keyser-Gibson is also seeded fourth in the 5,000 meters, an event she won during the 2016 championship.
The returning mile champion from Haverford, Katie Sullivan, is seeded fifth in that event. She too was a conference track athlete of the week during the winter season. Sullivan enters the weekend as the fourth seed in the 800 meters after placing second at that meet a year ago. Sullivan is a three-time All-Centennial Conference performer in the indoor 800 meters, taking home the conference title in 2016. Sophie Drew will also join a contingent of five Haverford runners in the 800 meters. She is seeded sixth, which matches her finish from this meet a year ago.
A third runner to win Centennial Conference Track Athlete of the Week honors this winter was Nicole Giannetti. She is Haverford's top entrant in the 5,000 meters, ranked third in the conference entering the weekend. The senior is Haverford's lone entrant in the 3,000 meters. Seeded eighth in that event, she was the conference runner-up last winter. In addition to Giannetti and Keyser-Gibson in the 5,000 meters, four other Haverford entrants have qualified and will compete in that event.
Haverford brings the top-ranked 4x800 meter relay team into the weekend. The Fords will be looking for their first championship in that event since the 2011 season. Always a strength for the Fords, the distance medley relay is seeded third. The Fords placed second in 2017, but return all four of their runners – Giannetti, Amy Zamora, Drew, and Keyser-Gibson – from the championship performance of 2016. The Fords are also seeded third in the 4x200 meter relay and seventh in the 4x400 relay.
First year runners appear poised to lead Haverford in the individual sprints. Jessica Lopez is ranked fourth in the 60 meter dash after the regular season, while Kat Turner is the No. 9 seed in the 60 meter hurdles. Lopez is also seeded fourth in the triple jump, with Turner just two spots behind her. Looking to break into a scoring position will be Kerry Quigley who is seeded ninth. In the long jump, Sophia Nelson and Quigley will look to improve upon their respective 10th and 13th seeds to add more scoring performances to the their team.
Haverford's most decorated field athlete is without question Claire Sargent. The senior shot put specialist during the indoor season, Sargent was named the Centennial Conference Track Athlete of the Week three times during her senior indoor season. She is already a three-time indoor All-CC performer in shot put, claiming the conference title in 2016 and finishing runner-up on the other two occasions. The program's co-school record holder in the event is seeded second. Classmate Emily Anderson will join her as the No. 11 seed for her indoor conference championship debut.
The Fords have placed among the top three teams during 19 of the conference's first 24 indoor championship meets. Haverford won six titles in the span of seven years from 2004-10, including five straight to close that stretch.