To cap off the year, the Blue Hens competed in the Swarthmore Final Qualifier Meet. Results are available here.

For the men, Pat LaPorte became the 4th runner in club history to break 2 in the 800m, winning his heat in 1:58.43. James Petrera also competed in the 800m, where he put down a 2:07.83 in his first time running the event. LaPorte and Petrera returned for the 1500m, running times of 4:18.86 and 4:30.70, respectively–Petrera’s time being a personal best.

Brandon Holveck moved up to #5 all-time for the 5000m in the final race of his collegiate career. Holveck came out with a new personal best of 15:17.16. Evan Massa also ran a personal best, 16:31.17.

On the women’s side, Emily Hansell and Molly Doyle ran the 800m in times of 2:30.78 and 2:35.12, respectively. In the 1500m, Haley Reid moved up to #4 all-time with her 5:06.73, and Elise LaFramboise entered the list at #10 in 5:11.70. Doyle also competed, running 5:18.74.

Talia Brookstein-Burke ran a #10 all-time 5000m in 20:10.71. This comes after she ran what would have been a #10 time in the first heat of the 5000m at NIRCA Nationals if Molly Doyle hadn’t ran 19:25.81 in the following heat, knocking Brookstein-Burke off the list. In the 3000m steeplechase, Allison Einig improved her #3 all-time mark to 12:51.37.

As usual, the Swarthmore Final Qualifier yielded a great deal of personal bests and top all-time performances. Congratulations to everyone who competed this season! As this was the final meet of the year, the Blue Hens will switch gears to prepare for cross country season. With photography from Evan Driscoll, pictures are below: