HANOVER, Ind. - The Haverford College women's cross country team will look to be at its best on Saturday when the Fords compete in the 2013 Division III Cross Country Championships hosted by Hanover College on Saturday.
After finishing fourth at the NCAA D-III Mideast Regional on Nov. 16, Haverford is one of 16 at-large selections to this year's national meet. In a testament to the high level of talent present in the Fords' region, five teams from the Mideast will compete at Hanover this weekend including defending national champion Johns Hopkins University. Haverford registered the sixth top-15 finish in program history in 2012 when it came in 13th place.
Head coach Fran Rizzo, in his 24th season, feels all of his runners have the ability to fill the scoring spots as they have each stepped up at some point over the course of the season. The Fords will aim to translate that depth into a tight gap between the scoring runners at Saturday's six-kilometer championship race.
Sophomore Nora Weathers, who finished in the top 10 at regionals, will look to draw on the experience she gained last year when she was Haverford's third scorer, in 107th place, at the national meet.
Other veterans who have experience running against the top runners in the nation are seniors Emily Scott and Chelsea Thorsheim. Scott will run at nationals for the fourth time on Saturday and has scored points for the Fords in the last two years in the season's final race. Making her second appearance on the national stage, Thorsheim was Haverford's final scorer in 2012 in 158th place.
Juniors Kelley Riffenburgh and Charlotte Lellman, along with sophomore Maggie Heffernan and freshman Clarice Bourland will participate in the national meet for the first time.
Weathers, Riffenburgh, Lellman and Scott merited all-region honors for their top-35 finish at regionals.
The Fords, who finished second in the Centennial Conference this season, enter Saturday's race tied for 26th in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association national poll.
The women's championship 6k race will begin at 11 a.m., followed by the men's 8k race at 12:30 p.m., as 560 of the best runners in the nation look to end the season in memorable fashion. Hanover's varied-terrain course, part of the L.S. Ayres Athletic Complex, has also hosted the 2003 and 2008 D-III national championships as well a number of conference and regional championships.