CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The fourth-ranked Haverford College men's cross country team clinched a spot in the NCAA Division III National Championships next weekend with a second place finish at the Mideast Regional Championships at DeSales on Saturday afternoon. The performance ensures a 26th straight appearance at the national meet for the Fords. In total, the national championship appearance will represent the 36th in the illustrious history of the Haverford program.
Only No. 7 Carnegie Mellon topped Haverford on Saturday afternoon, as the Fords posted an 84-point performance while the Tartans grabbed 76 total points. No. 6 Johns Hopkins finished third (134 points) while Messiah (184 points) and Elizabethtown (224 points) surprised to round out the top five team finishers on a chilly but dry day in the Lehigh Valley.
The Fords finished with an average time of 26:28 and a spread of 1:30. Senior Ryan Herlihy paced Haverford, finishing second overall with a time of 25:57. Graham Peet, the defending Mideast Regional Runner of the Year, was fifth overall with a time of 26:10. Greg Morgan finished ninth overall, crossing in 26:15. By virtue of a top-35 finish, Peet earned all-region honors for the fourth time. Peet is also on-track to become the 12th four-time NCAA qualifier in program history. Herlihy and Morgan each earned all-region honors for the third straight season.
Junior Sam McCalpin crossed the finish in 16th with a time of 26:28, picking up all-region honors for a second consecutive season. Junior David Watt rounded out the Haverford scorers with a 52nd place finish in 27:26. In his regional debut, Jamie Moreland followed up Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year honors with a 62nd place finish in 27:37.
The Fords will now compete for the national championship at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne, Wisconsin on Saturday, November 17. The Fords have experience on the course after finishing fourth in the pre-national race there in early October. Wisconsin-Oshkosh will host the national meet, which is slated to begin at 1 p.m. Eastern time.