Men's Cross Country Improves to No. 7 Nationally; Tops Regional Ranks

Jimmy Gorman

Posted: Nov 04, 2015

HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's cross country team jumped one spot to the No. 7 position in the latest US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) national poll. The Fords also remained as the top team in the Mideast Region.

Haverford's No. 7 ranking is the team's highest since being placed No. 1 on November 12th, 2012. The Fords have made a steady ascent in 2015, improving from No. 23 in the preseason to its current position.

With five of eight first-place votes, UW-Eau Claire continued as No. 1 team in the country. Williams, North Central (Ill.), St. Olaf and Amherst round out the top five. Johns Hopkins is the only other team in the Centennial Conference ranked in the top 35 while Dickinson also received votes.

Heading into the Mideast Regional next week, the Fords are the No. 1 regional squad with eight first-place votes and 89 points. The defending Mideast Region Champion, Carnegie Mellon, sits second (71 points) with Johns Hopkins, Elizabethtown and Dickinson among the top five.

The Fords defended its Centennial Conference Championship over the weekend, placing six runners inside the top ten, highlighted by senior Charlie Marquardt's second straight individual title.

Haverford scored its 20th conference title in 23 seasons while Marquardt became the 18th Ford to win the conference event. The senior is just the fifth person in conference history and fourth person from Haverford to win back-to-back titles. Chris Stadler '14 (2012-13), current cross country assistant coach J.B. Haglund '02 (2000-01) and Karl Paranya '97 (1994-96) were the other runners under head coach Tom Donnelly to win multiple crowns.

Marquardt (25:09.2) crossed the finish line four seconds in front of his teammate, junior Jimmy Gorman (25:13.4). Senior Sam Fujimori was fifth (25:24.2) while freshman Graham Peet (25:38.5) was eighth, senior Nicholas Gandolfo-Lucia (25:39.4) placed ninth, sophomore Henry Woods (25:39.7) finished 10th, junior Michael Brier completed the race in 11th (25:41.8) and senior Dylan Verner-Crist was 14th (26:03.4). The individuals finishing first through seventh were named first-team All-Centennial Conference, while eighth through 14th earned second-team all-conference accolades. The Fords now have 92 Centennial Conference first-team selections, 62 more than the next closest school, Dickinson.

After a week off, Haverford's next event will be at the NCAA Mideast Regional in Newville, Pa. on November 14th (12 p.m.) with an eye on the NCAA Championships the following week (Nov. 21) in Oshkosh, Wisc.