GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Haverford men's cross country team finished second overall at the Centennial Conference Championships on Saturday. In total, 102 student-athletes competed in the event. The annual 8k championship race was hosted by Gettysburg College. Head coach Matt Cohen's team took second for the fourth consecutive year, and the team had several personal-best times en-route to the runner-up finish.
The Fords were led by rookie Simon Lane's personal-best time of 24:31.10, which was good enough for fourth place. Senior Micah Lachman was just behind him, earning fifth place after crossing the finish line in 24:35.90. Lane and Lachman earn first-team All-Centennial Conference honors by virtue of their top seven finish. Junior Owen Bluman registered a personal-best time of 25:23.60, which allowed him to place 22nd overall. Luke de Valpine posted a personal-best mark of 25:34.70 as the junior accounted for 26th place overall.
Senior Jakob Maiwald completed the scorers for the Fords with his 26th-place effort. Maiwald's personal-best time of 25:39.60 allowed him to edge out a student-athlete from Swarthmore as the Fords will also earn a point in the Hood Trophy rivalry by virtue of the 66-77 victory over the Garnet. Oliver Barr and Joseph DeRosa were virtually even through the third split of the race. Barr notched a time of 26:16.6, which was good enough for 36th place while De Rosa crossed the line in 26:28.5. He finished 39th overall.
Rookies Wade Garoutte (26:35.2) and Will Tew (26:46.0) and junior Gopal Patel (26:53.6) all finished in under 27 minutes while providing solid depth for the team. Patel's time marked a personal-best effort on Saturday. First-year student-athlete Cole Branstrom also tallied a personal-best mark with his time of 27:15.6. Sophomore Nicky Elias-Gillette 27:43.2 turned in a solid time as did first-year Jack McCurry 27:59.0. First-year Raine Guidarelli 28:41.9 provided good depth for the team at his first conference meet.
Third-ranked Johns Hopkins claimed the team title with 19 points. The Fords garnered 66 points while Swarthmore was third with 77 points. Dickinson was fourth (93 points) while Gettysburg (174 points) rounded out the top five. Ursinus (180 points), Franklin & Marshall (201 points), McDaniel (235 points) and Muhlenberg (262 points) completed the field.
Men's Cross Country now returns to action on Saturday, November 15, at the NCAA Metro Region Championships in Logan Township, N.J. The race, which is held inside the DREAM Park, and hosted by Rowan is slated to begin at 11 a.m.
