ELSAH, Ill. – On the biggest stage that Division III Cross Country has to offer, the second-ranked Haverford men's cross country team will look to deliver its second national championship on Saturday. Haverford has qualified for the NCAA Championship during each of the past 25 seasons. The Fords captured the 2010 national championship and have finished as the national runner up in 2012, 2011 and 2007.
This season, Haverford took over sole possession of the No. 2 national ranking in the latest USTFCCCA rankings release, leaping over Wisconsin – La Crosse. The ranking is the highest for Haverford since the squad was ranked second in the nation during the first three weeks of the 2013 campaign. The ranking is also the highest pre-nationals mark for the Haverford men since the 2012 team was ranked first entering the championship meet.
North Central (Ill.) is the national consensus No. 1 with all eight first place votes, with the Fords, Wisconsin-La Crosse, SUNY Geneseo and Pomona-Pitzer rounding out the top five contenders for the title.
The Fords have momentum across the board as the squad dominated the Mideast Regional to claim an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. NCAA Mideast Region Athlete of the Year Graham Peet paced the Fords with a time of 25:22.9. Peet, Henry Woods and Ryan Herlihy finished 1-2-3 in the race, the first time the Fords have ever achieved the feat at a regional.
Haverford placed five finishers in the top 10 for just the second time in program history. The only other time the feat has been achieved was during the 2010 Mideast Regional, as the Fords took the regional in Slippery Rock, Pa. en route to a national championship. The regional crown is the 23rd overall regional championship for Haverford, as the Fords captured the championship for the first time since 2015.
By virtue of top-35 finishes, each of Haverford's regional participants were awarded All-Mideast Region honors. Woods and Peet have now earned the honor in three straight seasons while Herlihy and Greg Morgan picked up their second straight all-region designation.
Haverford's squad of junior Graham Peet, senior Henry Woods, junior Ryan Herlihy, junior Dylan Gearinger, junior Greg Morgan, sophomore Sam McCalpin and senior Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe looked as poised and ready as any team in the nation, with Peet, Woods and Gearinger all taking home individual event titles this season to highlight the late season charge for the team. Haverford was the top Division III finisher at each meet it competed in this season.
Matt Willig, who has also had a standout senior campaign including a 16th place overall finish at the Centennial Championships, will be the alternate in case one of the top seven cannot compete.
The meet, on the dedicated farm-based loop course on the campus of Principia College outside of St. Louis, represents the 45th overall men's national championship race. Links to follow the live stream ($) and live results all are available at the top of this page. Stay tuned to HaverfordAthletics.com and the official Haverford Athletics social media channels for meet updates and content.
The 8K race will begin at 11 a.m. central time (noon Eastern) with the women's 6K race to follow at 12:15 p.m. central time (1 p.m. Eastern).