Host Website (Dickinson College)
HAVERFORD, Pa. – A chance to qualify for the NCAA Championship is on the line this weekend as the Haverford College women's cross country team heads to Newville, Pa. for the 2014 Mideast Regional. The Fords can automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship with a first or second place finish in the team race. Individuals among the top seven runners not on the top two teams will also earn automatic bids to compete as individuals at the NCAA Championship.
Teams are only permitted to compete with seven runners in the Mideast Regional. Fifty-four teams are currently slated to compete for the top two slots in the team race. Ten other teams have also entered individuals into the race, raising the possibility of as many as 399 runners in the Mideast Regional this Saturday. The race will begin at noon for the women's side.
The Fords are currently ranked fourth in the Mideast Region behind Johns Hopkins, Elizabethtown and Dickinson. Haverford is coming off a third place finish at the Centennial Conference Championship with Johns Hopkins and Dickinson claiming the top two slots in the team standings.
The Fords placed fourth in last year's regional championship and have earned that spot in three of the past four regional races. The Fords were also second during the 2012 race. Haverford has qualified for the NCAA Championship as a team in each of the past five seasons whether through an automatic qualifier or an at-large berth.
Nora Weathers (ninth), Kelley Riffenburgh (21st), and Charlotte Lellman (26th) are each slated to compete again this weekend after earning all-region honors with their respective finishes last year in the Mideast Regional. Each of these three set their personal bests in last year's regional as Weathers finished in 21:43.5, while Riffenburgh (22:04.0) and Lellman (22:11.6) also had career days. Weathers earned second-team All-Centennial Conference accolades in the Centennial Championship two weekends ago.
Maggie Heffernan also set a career best with at time of 22:33.5 at last year's regional as she placed 39th in the field. Other upperclassmen that could run for the Fords include Molly Allen and Katherine Greifeld. Greifeld was the Fords' seventh finisher in the conference meet. Her personal best in the 6,000 meters came at the Paul Short Invitational earlier this year in a time of 23:18.0. Allen set her career-best time of 24:13.7 at the 2012 conference championship.
Four freshmen are listed in Haverford's 10 in the preregistration. Nicole Giannetti was the Fords' fifth finisher, while Amelia Keyser-Gibson was the team's sixth finisher in the conference meet. Both Giannetti (23:20) and Keyser-Gibson (24:00) set their personal bests at the Paul Short Invitational. MaryKate Cavanaugh finished in 23:38 at Paul Short for her personal best. Sarah Wade's personal best came at the Princeton Invitational in a time of 24:22.