USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll
HAVERFORD, Pa. – Fresh off a fifth consecutive Centennial Conference Championship, the Haverford College men's cross country team has held its No. 4 spot in the week seven United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national coaches' poll, the organization announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Haverford also tops the Mideast Regional rankings for the seventh consecutive week, edging out conference foe Johns Hopkins. The Fords received a total of 252 voting points, as the top six spots in the poll remained stagnant from the previous ranking heading into the conference championship weekend.
On Saturday, Haverford scored 34 points en route to its 23rd overall Centennial Conference title, narrowly besting the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins, who scored 35. Dickinson finished third with 79 points, while Swarthmore (137 points) and Muhlenberg (151 points) rounded out the top five team finishers.
Senior Greg Morgan paced the Fords, finishing second overall with a time of 25:18.8 while senior Ryan Herlihy was right behind in 25:29.2 for a third-place finish. Graham Peet crossed in sixth in 25:36.8, while Dylan Gearinger was eighth in 25:41.7. Peet was named all-conference for the fourth consecutive season while Herlihy, Morgan, and Gearinger were all named to the all-conference squad for the third consecutive year. Junior David Watt was Haverford's fifth scorer, narrowly missing all-conference designation with a 15th place finish in 26:18.4.
CCIW champion North Central (Ill.), UAA Champion Washington-St. Louis, and MIAA Champion Calvin are the top three teams in the national poll. Following Haverford in the poll is WIAC champion Wisconsin-Lacrosse, and Centennial runner-up Johns Hopkins. Mideast Regional foe Carnegie Mellon sprinted into the top seven after a strong runner-up showing at the UAA meet, setting up a loaded Mideast Regional field for the Fords as the race now includes three top 10 squads along with No. 23 Dickinson vying for an automatic bid to nationals.
The Fords will take the aforementioned No. 4 national ranking into the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, which are slated for Saturday, November 10 in Center Valley, Pa. on the campus of DeSales. The men's 8K race is slated to begin at noon.