Sullivan, Giannetti Set to Represent Women's Track at National Championships

Sullivan, Giannetti Set to Represent Women's Track at National Championships

HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's outdoor track & field team will be represented by two student-athletes at the NCAA Division III Championships this weekend in Geneva, Ohio. This will be the first outdoor season since 2009 when Haverford has had multiple entrants to the national meet on the women's side as Katie Sullivan will compete in the 1,500 meters and Nicole Giannetti will enter the steeplechase.

Sullivan will get the weekend started with the 1,500 meter trials on Thursday which begin at 2:30 p.m. Heat assignments will be released later this week. Saturday's final will include the top four finishers in the two heats, plus each of the next four best times. Those 12 moving on to the finals will run for All-America honors at 12:25 p.m. on Saturday.

Giannetti's preliminaries in the steeplechase are set for 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. The top five finishers in each of those two heats, plus the next four best times, will make Saturday's final which will be the first event on the track at 11:30 a.m.

Sullivan is the sixth runner in program history to qualify for the outdoor 1,500 meter championship and the first since former teammate Nora Weathers '16 placed sixth to earn All-America recognition during the 2015 season. Meredith Unger '97 and Danielle Wolfrom '94 were also former All-Americans in this event with fourth and sixth place finishes, respectively.

Already a two-time All-American during the indoor track & field seasons, Sullivan ran the 800 meter leg of the Fords' third place DMR in 2015 and was eighth in the mile during this past winter. She is making her outdoor NCAA debut with two other national appearances during the cross country seasons. Sullivan is the reigning Centennial Conference Champion in this event. She comes in seeded 10th in the event with her best time of 4:31.63 coming at Swarthmore's final qualifying meet. She ranks second in school history to Weathers in the event.

Giannetti will be making her NCAA track & field debut although she is not inexperienced on the national stage having run in each of the last two NCAA Cross Country Championships. Giannetti enters the weekend with the final qualifying spot in the field of 22 as she too set her personal best time at Swarthmore with a mark 10:55.64. That time ranks third in school history.

A Centennial Conference runner-up in that event this season, Giannetti is the third Haverford women's runner to qualify for the steeplechase in program history. School record holder Hope Rainey '14 was the most recent to represent the Fords on the national stage during her senior season. Giannetti will be looking for Haverford's first All-America certificate in that event as the previous best finish came from Sarah LaMoy '05 during the 2003 championship when she placed ninth overall.

Live results and live video will be available for the 2017 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships through the links above.