HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's cross country team, ranked 23rd in the nation, opened its season Thursday afternoon with many of the Fords runners posting personal best times at the 2010 Mainline Invitational hosted on campus by the Fords.

Sophomore Sara Hess (19 minutes, 19.62 seconds) paced Haverford with a 17th-place finish. Villanova runners nabbed nine of the first 12 spots led by Amanda Marino's winning time of 16:48.10.

Two spots behind Hess was sophomore teammate Rachael Potter who finished the 3-mile course in a time of 19:30.66.

Junior Jamie Croucher (19:55.03) was 22nd just ahead of Haverford teammates Cara Keifer (So., 25th, 20:00.69), Dorothea Letner (So., 26th, 20:17.98) and freshman Molly Quay de la Valle (27th, 20:21.14). Mary Morgan (So., 29th, 20:36.79) rounded out the top seven for Haverford.

Along with the host Fords and Villanova, teams from Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, Gwynedd-Mercy and Cedar Crest also participated in the annual invite.

Several of the Fords' front-runners, including All-American Emily Lipman, were held out of Thursday's race in preparation for the pre-regional meet Saturday morning in Slippery Rock, Pa., which will also be the site for the NCAA Regional race November 13.