COLLEGEVILLE, Pa - The Haverford College women's track and field team continued outdoor action on Saturday at the Ursinus College Outdoor Invitational. The Fords battled through unpredictable weather conditions and competed well across the board. Kicking things off was the 4x100 meter relay. Haverford's team, including Naomi Fukuda, Kayla Robinson, Jahsaiah Moses, and Isabel Thornberry, narrowly missed the win, finishing second. Early in the season, the goal is to get the stick around and develop some chemistry, and the Fords did just that, finishing in 51.25.
In the 100-meter dash prelims, Moses crossed the line in 12.93, which was good enough to be the third-best qualifier going into the finals. Her teammate Fukuda narrowly missed the finals, finishing in ninth place but still turned in a respectable time of 13.47. In the finals, Moses finished third and was able to better her prelim time, running 12.69.
The 400 hurdles are challenging in any weather, but senior Fiona Flynn wasn't phased by the conditions. Flynn turned in a 1:08.86, a performance good enough for second place. Her performance is certainly something to monitor moving forward. It is just her first year running the race as she has been known as a jump specialist in past seasons.
In the long jump, Robinson and Flynn secured top-five finishes. After an impressive basketball season, Robinson jumped an excellent 5.11 meters (16 feet, 9.18 inches) for second place. Jumping over 16 feet this early in the season could be a sign of only good things to come from the junior as that mark is the ninth-best in the program's outdoor history. Flynn took fourth place with a 4.93 meter (16 feet, 2.09 inches) jump.
As if her day wasn't already impressive, Robinson finished her day off with a win in the triple jump. Performing all three phases of her third attempt, Robinson landed in the pit with a measurement of 10.45 meters (34 feet and 3.42 inches), narrowly missing a program top 10 in that event.
Haverford showed up in the throwing events. Cortlyn Morris' fourth attempt on the day in the shot put went out to 10.72 meters (35 feet and 2.05 inches), which was good enough for fifth place. Sydney Cummings was the Fords' best performer in the javelin, finishing 12th with a throw of 24.99 meters (81 feet & 11.86 inches). Alice Creed vaulted over 2.60 meters (8 feet & 6 inches) in the pole vault, but her day ended with a fourth-place finish.
Not many distance athletes were in action for the Fords on the day. Annemarie Wood and Hedy Goodman took part in the 1,500 meter race and secured top-20 finishes running 5:42.67 and 5:43.04, respectively. Isabel Thornberry competed in the 800-meter run, which is just one of her many talents on the track. The sophomore continues to show up for the Fords and her 2:22.35 for second place continued that trend.
In the 4x400 meter relay, an event that always gets people on their feet, Haverford finished second with a time of 4:14.43. Fukuda's opening split of 1:02.62 kicked things off for the Fords, handing off the stick in third place. Moses and Rachel November held the team in third place going into the anchor leg, and Thornberry moved the team up to second with a 61-second split to bring the day to a close for the team.
The Fords will compete again next weekend on Friday, April 15, at the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton. The meet is set to begin at 5 p.m. They will follow that meet up with a trip to Chester on Saturday for the Chester Quarry Classic, which starts at 9 a.m.