LANCASTER, Pa. – Haverford College's Christopher Stadler (pictured, right) has earned the Centennial Conference's 2012 runner of the year honor while head coach Tom Donnelly has been voted the league's men's cross country coach of the year, as announced by the league office Wednesday afternoon. Fords women's head coach Fran Rizzo was named the women's coach of the year.
Donnelly, earning the award for the third straight season, coached his 2012 Fords squad to a conference team championship Saturday morning in front of a home crowd on the team's Alumni Course. Stadler captured the individual title as the Fords placed their five scoring runners within the top eight of the championship's finishers.
Stadler, a junior, was joined on the all-conference first team by Haverford sophomore Joel Christian (fourth place), junior Avi Bregman (fifth) and senior Peter Kissin (sixth). Fords junior Brian Sokas raced to second-team all-conference honors with his eighth-place finish.
The team championship is the 18th for Haverford and Stadler became the 15th Ford to win the individual Centennial title. Since the Centennial's inaugural championship in 1983, Haverford has captured 18 of the 20 championship crowns including the past three with Saturday's victory.
Haverford continues its season with the NCAA 2012 Mideast Regional on Saturday, Nov. 10 in Newville, Pa. Last season's Fords used team victories at the conference and regional meets to catapult to a runner-up finish at the 2011 NCAA championship meet.