HAVERFORD, Pa. – The No. 15 ranked Haverford College men's cross country team took home the Centennial Conference Championship for the 21st time in 24 seasons on Saturday afternoon, scoring 34 points and claiming victory by outlasting Johns Hopkins by just nine points. The Blue Jays scored 43, but it was the Fords who again prevailed in the title race, heading into the NCAA Mideast Regional on a high note. Junior Henry Woods led the Haverford harriers, finishing second overall in the 8K race at the Alumni Cross Country Course on the Haverford campus.
On what turned out to be a fantastic fall day for racing, with temperatures reaching into the 70's, the Fords had four scorers within the top 10. Woods finished in 24:57.8, barely falling short of an individual championship. The honor went to Jaryd Frank, who captured Muhlenberg's first individual title with a time of 24:53.9, ending a streak of six straight individual champions from Haverford.
Ryan Herlihy crossed in fifth place with a time of 25:10.9 while senior co-captain Jimmy Gorman followed right behind in sixth place with a time of 25:15.5. Dylan Gearinger was 10th in a time of 25:46.0. Graham Peet finished less than second behind Gearinger in a time of 25:46.9, good for 11th place. Greg Morgan was 12th overall in 25:47.3 while Charlie Hale crossed in 16th place with a time of 26:16.8.
After a runner-up finish, Woods was named to the All-Centennial Conference first team, adding to his career haul that already included a second team nod a season ago. Herlihy picked up All-Centennial Conference first team honors, the first such recognition of his career. Gorman picked up his second straight All-Centennial first team award while Gearinger, Peet and Morgan all were named to the second team, with Peet following up his rookie of the year campaign a season ago with a second consecutive All-Centennial plaudit.The Fords now have 95 Centennial Conference first-team selections in program history.
Outside of the Haverford top seven, James Stadler (26:19.5) crossed in 18th while Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe finished in 19th with a time of 26:23.9. Peter Kurtz crossed in 34th place with a time of 27:00.5 while Matt Willig was 42nd in 27:15.6. Evan Hamilton crossed in 65th with a time of 28:18.2.
In the open race which followed the varsity championship, Chris Goings led the way for the Fords with a time of 26:43 flat, good for third overall.
By virtue of placing higher than Swarthmore, the Fords also earned the second point of the year in the race towards the Hood Trophy. Swarthmore finished in fifth place overall with 151 points.
Haverford will next return to action at the Mideast Regional on November 12. The race is hosted by DeSales. The top two teams in the field will qualify automatically for the NCAA Championships.