COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - The Haverford College women's indoor track & field team opened the outdoor season on Saturday in Collegeville for the Ursinus College Outdoor Invitational. Despite the rainy conditions, the team put in solid opening season performances, finishing in the top five across a variety of events.
Outdoor season means one thing and that is kicking off a meet with 400 meters and a baton. Haverford opened the meet with a win in the 4x100 meter relay, crossing the finish line in 50.39. The team was nearly four seconds ahead of the second-place finishers.
In the 100-meter prelims, Jahsaiah Moses carried her indoor form outdoors, running the fastest qualifying time. The senior sprinted to the finish line in 13.14 to earn her spot in the final. Kayla Robinson stepped onto the track for the first time since her stellar basketball season, winning her heat in 13.73 to earn the Fords a second spot in the final.
Ally Landau debuted in the 100-meter dash and nearly made it to finals as she was in the same heat as her teammate Robinson. Heat winners automatically qualified for finals and then the next two fastest times. Landau crossed the line in 13.73, the same time as Robinson but as the results had to go thousandths of a second, Landau's 13.730 was edged out by Robinson's 13.722. Nonetheless, it was a great first race in Landau's track career.
Moses would eventually finish second in the final, crossing the line in 12.83. Robinson finished sixth with a time of 13.54. Despite the weather, Moses would not be denied a sub-13 performance that was just 0.14 off her personal best.
Olivia D'Aulerio finished second in the 400 meters with a sub-60 effort, finishing in 59.76. Isabel Thornberry trailed her slightly to finish third as she crossed the finish in 1:00.88. Also competing in the race were runners Abby Ryan (1:06.44) and Rachel November (1:06.48) as they rounded out the top ten finishing ninth and tenth respectively.
Dominique Monroy was the top finisher for the Fords in the 800 meters with a time of 2:29.90 to finish fifth. Her time was just over two seconds off her personal best of 2:27.78 which she set indoors. Jessie Hausman (2:39.37) and Sophia Furman (2:44.78) and Brianna Feifer (2:52.76) rounded out the performances for the Fords in the event.
Four Fords competed in the 1500-meter race as Katie Hirsche was the top finisher. Hirshe would place second with a time of 5:00.96, impressive given the conditions. Krysta Nichols ran a personal best, crossing the finish line in 5:27.39. Nichols' previous best in the 1500 was 5:29.20, which she ran in April of 2022. Opening the season with a personal best in the rain is a solid way to get an outdoor season started. Annemarie Wood (5:28.73) and Audrey Carter (5:52.11) rounded out the rest of the performances.
The Fords earned another top-five finish after Robinson finished fifth in the 200-meter dash. The senior blazed to a 27.84, beating her personal best of 27.90 set during the 2022 season.
In the throws, Sydney Cummings took second in the hammer throw with a toss of 36.16 meters (118 feet, 7 inches). Sarah Wilcher finished just behind her in fifth, tossing 33.37 meters (109 feet, 4 inches) earning yet another top-five finish for Haverford.
Robinson continued to compete in a variety of events in preparation for the heptathlon. She finished seventh in the shot put, tossing 10.52 meters (34 feet 6.25 inches). Wilcher earned her second top-ten performance of the day finishing tenth with a throw of 10.17 meters (33 feet, 4.5 inches). Cortlyn Morris also competed, finishing 11th after throwing 10 meters (32 feet, 9.75 inches).
Wilcher's third top ten finish of the day came in the discus where she finshed sixth with a throw of 30.30 meters (99 feet, 5 inches).
Morris earned her top ten finish in the javelin, throwing 28.62 meters (93 feet, 10 inches).
The meet ended with the 4x400 meter relay, where the Fords would race two teams. The teams would finish first and second running 4:15.71 and 4:23.41 respectively.
Now with a meet under their belt, the women's track & field team will continue action at the Danny Curran Invitational set for March 31 through April 1. The meet, hosted by Widner in Chester, PA is scheduled to kick things off at 5 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday.