MEDFORD, Mass. — The Haverford College women's indoor track and field team competed in five events on Saturday afternoon at the Tufts National Qualifying Meet, hoping to secure spots in the NCAA Championships on March 13–14 in Birmingham, Ala. The meet was highlighted by rookie Taniya Denson, who once again broke her own school record in the pole vault, clearing 3.48 meters (11 feet, 5 inches).
Nadine Tang competed first for the Fords in the 60-meter preliminaries, where the junior crossed the finish line in 8.16 for ninth place. The mark matched her personal best, which ranks eighth all-time in school history, but she narrowly missed qualifying for the final heat.
Next up for the Scarlet and Black was Anastasia Jaycobs, who placed 10th in the mile with a huge new personal-best time of 5:05.91, just shy of cracking the program's top-10 list.
Then it was Denson's turn. The first-year once again broke the Haverford school record in the pole vault for the fourth time this season, clearing 3.48 meters (11 feet, 5 inches) to surpass her previous mark of 3.40 meters (11 feet, 1.75 inches), set on February 20. Denson placed 10th overall with the record-setting performance.
Fellow rookie Lorelei Middleton competed in the 400 meters, finishing fourth with a time of 58.60. Teammate Olivia D'Aulerio followed in the 800 meters, placing 10th with a time of 2:19.20.
With results from final qualifying meets across the nation still to come, Haverford now looks ahead to Sunday's announcement of the NCAA Division III National Championship qualifiers at 7 p.m. The championships will begin Friday, March 13, in Birmingham, Alabama. For the 2026 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships, the top 20 declared student-athletes in each individual event and the top 12 declared relay teams (limited to one per institution) will be accepted into the championship field.
The Fords will next transition to outdoor competition, opening the season on Saturday, March 21, in West Chester, Pa., at the WCU Purple & Gold Invitational, with events set to begin at 10 a.m.
