NEW ORLEANS - Preseason expectations are high for the Haverford College men's cross country team as it finished second in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division III 2012 national preseason poll, as announced by the organization.

The Fords, tabbed as the top team in the Mideast Region in the USTFCCCA preseason regional poll earlier in the week, finished the season as the nation's second-ranked team in 2011 after falling to North Central College (Ill.) at the national championship meet. Receiving all eight first-place votes in the poll, the defending national champions occupy the top spot in this season's initial poll.

Haverford was one of three Centennial Conference institutions overall to earn a spot in the top 35 as Johns Hopkins University and Dickinson College sit in 23rd and 27th, respectively.

In 2012, the Fords captured the Centennial and Mideast Region titles on the way to their runner-up finish at the national meet.