STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The Haverford College women's track and field team returned to competition on Friday, with a trip to the Ocean Breeze Track and Field Facility for the Fastrack National Invitational. It was a day of personal records for the women's team at the Ocean Breeze Track & Field Complex.
The team's performance was highlighted by a blazing one-two finish in the women's 5,000 meter run. Angie Petrichenko continued her fantastic racing with a personal best and first place finish. The senior broke the tape in 17:48.90 to claim the overall victory while first-year runner Katie Hirsche crossed the line in second place with a personal best of 18:09.95. Petrichenko's time places her tenth on Haverford's indoor all-time list for the 5,000 meter distance.
Alice Creed grabbed a big personal best in the pole vault, leaping over three meters for the first time in her collegiate career. Creed has constantly posted heights between 2.7-2.9 meters or better but was faced with an opening height of 2.9 meters (9 feet 6 inches). After missing on her first attempt, she was able to get over the bar on her second attempt, moving the clearance height up to 3.05 (10 feet). Creed failed her first two attempts but was successful on her final attempt to etch a spot on Haverford's all-time list in the pole vault, where she currently sits in third. It was the first time a Haverford vaulter broke ten feet since Grace Mathis in 2019. Creed finished 16th in the loaded event.
In the 400 meter dash, Jahsaiah Moses led the way for the Fords crossing the line in 1:01.58. Her time was only 0.15 seconds off her personal best set in the 2020 Centennial Conference Championships. Ella Fleming finished with a personal best of 1:07.09, bettering her previous best of 1:08.27 set on December 4, 2021. Rounding out the competitors in the 400m for the Fords was Hedy Goodman, crossing the line in 1:12.48.
Isabel Thornberry, who is eighth on Haverford's all-time indoor list in the 400 meter, ran double that distance this weekend. The sophomore was entered in the 800 meter run and was the Fords' top finisher in the event with a time of 2:22.43. Thornberry's time was good enough for a top-20 finish (19th) and a personal record by more than four seconds. Following up her finish were teammates Rachel November (2:30.07), Lauren Tanel (2:35.01), Dominique Monroy (2:33.57), and Annemarie Wood (2:36.30). Adding to the list of PRs was Naomi Fukuda. In the 200 meter dash, the senior clocked 27.98 seconds narrowly beating her previous best of 28.14 from February 5. Senior Taylor Seid also ran the event, crossing the finish line in 32.46 seconds.
The relay team of Fukuda, Moses, Thornberry, and November crushed their season's best time of 4:16.25 by nearly six seconds. In the final event of the day, the team crossed the finish line with a time of 4:10.51.
The Fords will compete at home for the final time in the indoor season for the Keogh Invitational on February 19. The meet is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. inside the Alumni Field House.