USTFCCCA NCAA Division III National Preseason Cross Country Poll
USTFCCCA NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Cross Country Poll
HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's cross country team has been selected as the No. 14 team in the nation according to the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) preseason poll. In addition, the Fords were also ranked as the No. 2 team in the Mideast region preseason rankings, the organization announced in a release on Wednesday afternoon. Haverford finished with 181 total votes after an 18th place finish at the NCAA Championships last season.
For the seventh time in the past nine years, North Central (Ill.) topped the national landscape with 280 points and eight first place votes. North Central is the reigning NCAA champion in Men's Cross Country. SUNY Geneseo, Wisconsin-La Crosse, Williams and Wisconsin-Eau Claire rounded out the top five nationally. Johns Hopkins was ranked seventh overall to top the Mideast region poll while Carnegie Mellon was projected to finish 19th overall and 3rd in the Mideast region. Dickinson, the only other Centennial Conference team ranked in the poll, was the final team ranked at 36th and was predicted fourth in the Mideast region.
After Haverford secured its 21st conference title in 24 seasons in 2016, The Fords ranked as the No. 1 team in the Centennial Conference coaches' preseason poll, which was announced last week. The Fords will return All-American Henry Woods for his senior season as Ryan Herlihy, Dylan Gearinger, Graham Peet and Greg Morgan will also return from All-Region and All-Centennial conference seasons. Haverford loses co-captains Jimmy Gorman and Charlie Hale from its NCAA contingent, but the future remains bright with a talented class of 2019 ready to step into a leadership role as juniors in 2017.
Head coach Tom Donnelly will begin his 43rd season at the helm of the Fords. The journey towards nationals will start with the Alumni Open (Sept. 9) and Main Line Invitational (Sept. 15) at the Alumni Cross Country Course on the Haverford campus. The Centennial Conference championships will be hosted by Gettysburg (Oct. 29) before Dickinson hosts the NCAA Mideast Regional (Nov. 11). The NCAA Championships, hosted by Principia College, are slated for November 18 in Elsah, Ill., a suburb of Saint Louis, Mo.