HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's indoor track & field team has been picked to finish second in the Centennial Conference in the annual voting among head coaches. The Fords, who placed second at the indoor conference championships a season ago, received one first place vote in the poll. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.
Defending conference champions Johns Hopkins was picked first in the poll with 81 points and nine first-place votes. The Fords' 69 points just edged out Dickinson's 68 points for the second slot in the poll. Gettysburg and Ursinus rounded out the top five teams in the preseason voting.
The Fords, led by 2015 Centennial Conference Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year Fran Rizzo, have finished first or second in the conference championship in 17 of the Centennial's 23 seasons. This includes six conference championships with the most recent coming in 2010 to cap a run of five straight indoor championships. The team has crowned at least one individual conference champion in each of the past 12 indoor seasons.
Nora Weathers, an NCAA qualifier and outdoor All-American from last season, headlines the team's returnees from that runner-up team finish. Brittany Steele, the 2014 Centennial Conference Outstanding Rookie of the Meet, is also back after finishing second in the 60 meter dash and third in the 200 meters last winter. She won both of those events as a freshman.
Mairead Ferry was also an all-conference performer for the Fords as she placed second in the 60 meter hurdles during her freshman season, while Katie Sullivan earned honorable mention All-Centennial Conference recognition with a third place finish in the 800 meters. In the field events, Claire Sargent finished second in the shot put during her first year.
The Fords will open the indoor season this Saturday at the Ursinus Bow Tie meet. The 2016 Centennial Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships will be hosted by Ursinus College. That meet will take place on Friday, February 26 and continue through Saturday, February 27.