Belden sits in fourth in heptathlon; Thomas earns All-American in first day of NCAA Championships

MARIETTA, Ohio – Three members of the Haverford College men’s and women’s outdoor track & field teams took part in the first day of competition at the NCAA Championships at Marietta College on Friday. Jessie Belden is in fourth place through four events in the heptathlon. Chaz Thomas finished fifth in the long jump to earn All-American honors for the third time in his career and Dan O’Toole ran in the trials in the 1,500 meter run.

Belden has 2,837 points and trails leader Ashley Huston of Hardin-Simmons College who has 3,104 points. Belden opened the day with a seventh-place finish (15.46 seconds) in the 100m hurdles. Then she put forth her best performance of the day in the high jump. Belden placed second and broke her own school record with the leap. Her mark of 1.67m (5 feet, 5 ¾ inches) topped her previous best by ¾ of an inch.

After taking 15th in the shot put (9.31m, 30-6 ½), Belden rebounded to finish fifth in the 200m dash. Her time of 26.51 earned her 753 more points to close out her day. The heptathlon concludes on Friday with the long jump, javelin and 800m run. Belden will also compete in the high jump on Saturday and has one more chance to break her school record.

Thomas had the best leap of all 17 participants in the trials, reaching 7.04m (23-1 ¼) in the long jump. In the final, four other competitors had longer jumps, but his trials mark was good enough for fifth place. Thomas earned All-American honors for the third time in his career and his second in the long jump. He becomes the first outdoor field athlete at Haverford to receive All-American honors twice.

O’Toole finished eighth in his heat of the 1,500m. Unfortunately his time of 4:01.84 was not fastest enough to qualify for the final.