WESTMINSTER, Md. - Senior Emily Scott placed fourth overall to help the Haverford College women's cross country team finish in the runner-up spot at the Centennial Conference championship on Saturday at the Carroll County Farm Complex. The Fords entered the championship race, hosted by McDaniel College, tied for 15th in the Division III national rankings.
Finishing second for the third consecutive year, Haverford's 55 points trailed only Johns Hopkins University's winning total of 17. The defending national champion Blue Jays, the top-ranked team in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association (USTFCCCA) D-III poll, claimed their sixth straight conference crown as five of the first six finishers wore a Johns Hopkins uniform. Dickinson College, ranked 19th in the country, took third with 68 points while Swarthmore College (132 points) and Muhlenberg College (187 points) finished in fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Fords have now placed in the top three of the conference for 14 consecutive seasons and have finished second 13 times in the 21-year history of the Centennial cross country championships.
Earning first-team all-conference honors for the second time in her career, Scott finished in 22 minutes, 57.5 seconds to take fourth. Scott had also finished in the top 10 at the 2011 championships when she placed seventh.
Sophomore Nora Weathers and junior Charlotte Lellman were Haverford's next two scorers in eighth and ninth, respectively. Weathers crossed the line in 23:18.6 and Lellman followed closely behind in 23:25.9.
Junior Kelley Riffenburgh joined Weathers and Lellman on the all-conference second team with a finish of 23:42.6 that was good for 13th.
Sophomore Maggie Heffernan (24th, 24:13) was the Fords' final scorer. Seniors Chelsea Thorsheim (30th), Erin Seglem (31st) and Flora Berklein (35th) also placed in the top 35 of the 106-runner field.
Johns Hopkins senior Holly Clarke won the women's individual title as she led all participants across the line in 22:22.
The results of the championship race mirrored the current USTFCCCA regional rankings as Johns Hopkins resides in the top spot in the Mideast, followed by Haverford and Dickinson, respectively.
Finishing above Swarthmore in both the men's and women's championship races, the Fords earned two more points in the Hood trophy Competition between the two institutions. Haverford moves out to a 6-0 lead in the annual rivalry entering the winter season.
The Fords will now turn their attention to the NCAA Mideast Regional, hosted by Lehigh University, on Saturday, Nov. 16.