COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - The Haverford College women's track & field team opened up the three-day Centennial Conference Championship weekend at Ursinus on Friday evening. The two events that took center stage were the 10,000 meters as well as the heptathlon. Haverford came away with its first goal medal of the weekend as Katie Hirsche captured the event title for the Fords for the second consecutive season.
Haverford got its first championship of the weekend before nightfall of day one, taking the crown in the 10,000 as Hirsche took the title in 37:54.70. Hirsche didn't quite hit her personal best from last season's championship, but ran a smart race with a clear goal and was able to get past Caitlin O'Hehir of Johns Hopkins who finished second in 38:16.13 and Sammy Jo Barnes, who was third for Dickinson in 38:33.32. Hirsche has now won in back-to-back seasons after capturing Haverford's first 10,000 meter crown since 2008 a season ago.
Senior Kayla Robinson and sophomore Ella Fleming each competed in the heptathlon. Robinson is currently leading the event with 2,598 points while Fleming is sitting in eighth with 1,465 points at the end of the first day of rotations. Robinson won the 200 meter portion of the event, with a time of 26.05 while Fleming was ninth in 30.53. In the shot put, Robinson took the victory with a toss of 11.59 meters (38 feet, ¼ inch) while Fleming finished eighth (6.46 meters or 21 feet, 2.5 inches).
In the high jump, Robinson took third with a 1.48 meter (Four feet, 10.25 inches) height cleared and Fleming was ninth, clearing 1.18 meters (3 feet, 10.5 inches). In the 100 meter hurdles, Robinson finished fourth (17.22) and Fleming was seventh (18.63).
The other major event on the day was the women's hammer toss, as Sydney Cummings was 13th in the event, tossing 34.58 meters (113 feet, 5 inches). Claire Cywes finished 21st (29.04 meters or 95 feet, 3 inches) with a new personal best, entering the program top 10 in her final meet, while Cortlyn Morris was 25th (25.55 meters or 83 feet, 10 inches) and Ceanne Lyon was 27th (23.96 meters or 78 feet, 7 inches).
Haverford leaves day one in Collegeville with ten total points in the bank thanks to Hirsche, and Robinson is sitting in a great position in the multis. Haverford will look to continue to place athletes in scoring positions when day two action begins on Saturday. The events start at 11 a.m. at Ursinus with Robinson and Fleming in the heptathlon long jump, javelin, and 800 meters.