WEST CHESTER, Pa. - At the Bill Butler Invitational on the campus of West Chester University, the Haverford College men's track & field team delivered a balanced all-around performance, earning three event victories and producing a wave of personal-best marks across the sprints, middle distance, hurdles, and field events.
The Fords earned wins from Reef Kirchner in the 800 meters, Cole Branstrom in the 1500 meters, and Nico Greene in the 400-meter hurdles, while stacking up top finishes and wonderful depth across nearly every event group.
In the hurdles, Samuel Lin placed second in the 110-meter hurdles final in 15.08 to move into fourth all-time in program history, while Ian Lihani finished fourth in 15.53 (personal best), to move into eighth all-time in program history. Greene captured the 400-meter hurdles title in 55.59, securing an event win for the Fords.
In the 100-meter prelims, Thomas Fendig led Haverford in 11.31, followed by Zenas Boamah (11.51), Jonah Hoffmann-Weitsman (11.89, personal best), Derek Linden (11.95), Xan White (12.66), Kofi Kim (12.78), and Hongyi Zhang (14.33, personal best).
Fendig later placed sixth in the 200 meters in 22.11, improving on his time from last weekend and ranking eighth in program outdoor history. Boamah (23.40, personal best), Josue Laurore (23.65), Jason Mayo (23.75), Emerson Koch (23.95, personal best), Ian Lihani (23.95), Derek Linden (24.21, personal best), Samuel Lin (24.26), Jonah Hoffmann-Weitsman (24.43), Alex Geng (24.55), Peter Beredjiklian (25.01), Xan White (25.31), and Hongyi Zhang (29.72, personal best) also competed in the event for the Fords.
In the 400 meters, Laurore led Haverford in 52.72 to establish a new personal record, placing 11th overall, followed by Koch in 53.67 for 19th place and another PR. Jason Mayo was 33rd in 56.31.
In the 800 meters, Kirchner won the title in 1:57.79, while Wyatt Grace finished 12th in a personal-best 2:02.08. Gopal Patel was 28th in 2:08.56, while Ben Aaron logged a 42nd-place showing in 2:15.41.
The 1500 meters featured a 1-2 finish for Haverford, as Branstrom won in 4:05.10, a new personal-best, while Luke de Valpine registered a PR of 4:06.16 for second. Torin Pelton-Flavin (4:10.46, 4th) and Jakob Maiwald (4:11.31, 5th) rounded out the top five finishers. Wade Garoutte (4:20.47) finished 19th, while Gabriel Bernstein was 20th (4:20.67).
Jack McCurry (4:23.24), Patel (4:24.09), Deven Abrams (personal-best 4:29.32), Liam Deimler (4:29.70), Tate Sheehy (4:35.23), and Nicky Elias-Gillette (4:36.51) rounded out the field for Haverford.
In the field events, Jory Lee delivered a pair of runner-up finishes, taking second in the long jump at 6.39 meters (20 feet, 11.75 inches) and second in the triple jump at 13.35 meters (43 feet, 9.75 inches). Lee's triple jump now ranks as the 10th-best in program history.
Mark Tringas placed sixth in the long jump at 5.98 meters (19 feet, 7.50 inches), while Peter Beredjiklian recorded a mark of 5.14 meters (16 feet, 10.50 inches).
In the high jump, Jason Mayo finished ninth, clearing 1.58 meters (5 feet, 2.25 inches).
Kyler Lee competed in the throws, placing 13th in the discus with a mark of 31.65 meters (103 feet, 10 inches) and 10th in the shot put at 11.10 meters (36 feet, 5 inches).
