PHILADELPHIA — Haverford College seniors Reza Eshghi and Peter LaRochelle represented the Fords in the 5,000 meters Thursday night at the prestigious 129th Penn Relays, hosted at Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.

The Penn Relays, the oldest and largest continuously running track and field competition in the United States, features elite athletes from high school through the professional ranks. This year's collegiate men's 5,000 meters proved historic, as North Carolina's Parker Wolfe set a new meet record with a time of 13:31.09, breaking a mark that had stood for 47 years. Two other North Carolina teammates also went under the previous meet record.

For Haverford, LaRochelle placed 42nd overall with a personal-best time of 14:23.47, finishing third in his heat and ahead of the only other Division III competitor in his heat, Tommy Li of Johns Hopkins. Eshghi followed closely in 47th, clocking in at 14:27.57 and placing 17th in a loaded second heat.

The Fords return to action Friday at the Penn Relays with a pair of relay teams competing against regional collegiate foes. The 4x100-meter squad—Zenas Boamah, Niko Beros, Mark Tringas, and Samuel Lin—is scheduled to compete at 1:05 p.m. The 4x400-meter team of Vir Goyal, Reef Kirchner, Nico Greene, and Thomas Fendig will hit the track at 8:05 p.m. Live results and a FloTrack video stream are available via the Haverford track & field schedule page.