HAVERFORD, Pa. - A look back at a season of accomplishment for the Haverford College women's cross country team:
Signature highlight: The Haverford College women's cross country team claimed second at the highly competitive Mideast Regional on the strength of a scant 36.5 seconds between the Fords' five scoring places. Earning an automatic ticket to the national meet, the young Fords finished 13th at the NCAA Division III championship held in Terre Haute, Ind., at LaVern Gibson Championship course. Earning All-American honors, freshman Fiona Hendry paced Haverford with a 23rd-place finish.
Awards:
- NCAA Division III national championship: 13th place
- All-America honors: Hendry
- All-Mideast Region: Hendry, Emily Scott, Nora Weathers, Katie Balmer, Andrea Tocci, Sara Hess and Chelsea Thorsheim
- All-Mideast Region freshmen squad: Hendry, Weathers
- All-Centennial Conference second team: Hendry, Balmer
- Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll: Balmer, Flora Berklein, Margaret Duffy, Helen Farley, Bridget Freeley, Sara Hess, Nora Howe, Rachael Kantor, Cara Keifer, Charlotte Lellman, Dorothea Letner, Kelley Riffenburgh, Sheera Rosenbaum, Olivia Uddin
- Centennial Conference Sportsmanship team: Scott
Season notes: The Fords, with a second-place finish at regionals, finished in the top four at the Mideast Regional meet for the 12th time in the last 13 years … For the season, Haverford finished second at the Centennial Conference championship and the Mideast Regional to eventual national champion Johns Hopkins … Ranked 26th in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national preseason poll, the Fords moved all the way up to a tie for eighth in the final poll before the national meet … Earlier in the season, the Fords ran to a first-place finish in the long course portion of the Dickinson Long-Short Invitational and placed 12th at the Princeton Invitational … The LaVern Gibson Championship Course served as the site for eight consecutive NCAA D- I Championships from 2004-11.
Looking ahead: Haverford will lose Tocci and Hess from a group that showed steady improvement throughout the season. Balmer, Hendry, Scott, Weathers, Thorsheim, Flora Berklein and Charlotte Lellman return as the Fords will look to be in the conference, regional and national mix once again.