Season Highlights: Haverford was the top Division III finisher in each regular season race it competed in during the 2017 season. The Fords made an immediate impact on the national landscape with a 17th place overall finish at the Paul Short Run (Sept. 29). Haverford was the top Division III finisher in the event, out-racing Division I programs such as American (19th) and Lehigh (20th) and were narrowly edged by Villanova (14th). The Fords then captured the Inter-Regional Border Battle at Rowan (Oct. 14), putting three runners in front of No. 16 Carnegie Mellon's first to easily capture the championship team title by a 29-62 score. The squad captured its 22nd Centennial Conference title, outlasting Johns Hopkins on the campus of Gettysburg College. Henry Woods was named Centennial Conference Men's Runner of the Year after capturing the individual title for the Fords. The 21 points was the best performance since the 2014 season, when the Fords also scored 21 points.
In rainy and wet conditions, Haverford dominated the 8K championship meet, with four runners crossing the finish line before the top finisher from Johns Hopkins. The Fords then secured their place in the national championship meet with a dominating performance at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships (Nov. 11). Haverford scored 25, the third best regional meet team score in the illustrious history of the program. The Fords placed five finishers in the top 10 for just the second time in program history. Graham 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 race. The regional crown is the 23rd overall regional championship for Haverford, as the Fords captured the championship for the first time since 2015.
Haverford finished eighth at the NCAA Division III National Championships (Nov. 18). The eighth place finish was the best performance for the Fords since the 2012 team finished in a tie for second place. Senior Henry Woods paced the Fords with an 18th place finish in a time of 24:42.90, picking up his second All-America finish in as many seasons. Woods' honor represents the third straight year that the Fords have had an All-American finisher.
Awards:
- Mideast Region Runner of the Year: Graham Peet
- Mideast Region Coach of the Year: Tom Donnelly
- All-Mideast Region: Graham Peet, Henry Woods, Ryan Herlihy, Greg Morgan, Dylan Gearinger, Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe, Sam McCalpin
- Centennial Conference Runner of the Year: Henry Woods
- Centennial Conference Coach of the Year: Tom Donnelly
- All-Centennial Conference: Henry Woods (first team), Graham Peet (first team), Ryan Herlihy (first team), Dylan Gearinger (first team), Sam McCalpin (second team), Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe (second team)
- Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll: James Barker, Liam Bassett, Chris Bechen, Arthur Chang, Sam Ditkovsky, Tyler Fong, Josh Frye, Steve Gan, Ryan Herlihy, Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe, Conor Madden, Sam McCalpin, Graham Peet, James Stadler, Ian Woodhouse, Henry Woods
- Centennial Conference All-Sportsmanship Team: Liam Bassett
- Centennial Conference Runner of the Week: Dylan Gearinger (9/18, 10/2), Henry Woods (10/16)
- Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Performer of the Year: Graham Peet
- Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team: Graham Peet, Henry Woods
Notes: The Fords have now placed within the top 20 at the national meet for the 25th straight season, a mark that dates back to the 1993 campaign … Woods is the 35th cross country All-American in the illustrious history of the Haverford program …Haverford had one of its strongest NCAA Regional Performances in program history, scoring 25 points, which was the third-best mark in the history of the program … The 2010 National title squad scored 23 … The only other time the Fords placed five finishers in the top 10 at the regional race was also during the 2010 national championship season …Tom Donnelly took home his seventh overall Centennial Conference Coach of the Year award, and won the award for the fourth consecutive season … Donnelly was also the Mideast Regional Coach of the Year for the fifth time in the last eight seasons.
Looking Ahead: The Fords have an extremely promising 2018 campaign in the works. Haverford will have to replace Woods, who was a two-time All-America selection, but the squad returns five of its top seven runners from the national meet, including Mideast Regional Runner of the Year Graham Peet and fellow All-Region selections Ryan Herlihy, Greg Morgan, Dylan Gearinger and sophomore Sam McCalpin. With another year of experience in postseason meets, the group will have a national championship as its common goal. The Fords now turn their attention to Indoor Track & Field season, which will begin on December 9 with the Haverford Holiday Meet at the Alumni Field House. The action is slated to begin at noon.