HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's cross country team has been picked to finish second in the Centennial Conference preseason poll. In the voting of conference coaches, the Fords garnered one first-place vote for a total of 69 points to edge out Dickinson's 68 points. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.
Johns Hopkins was selected as the preseason favorite with the remaining nine first-place votes. Swarthmore (58 points) and Gettysburg (46 points) rounded out the top five teams in the poll.
Haverford will be seeking its seventh appearance at the NCAA Championship in the past eight seasons. The Fords topped Dickinson for second at the Centennial Conference Championship a year ago but were edged out by the Red Devils at the Mideast Regional for the second spot before earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship. Haverford placed 22nd at last year's national championship.
The Fords have been constantly running at the front of the pack since the conference's inception. The Fords have placed outside of the top three teams just once in conference history and have been first or second 17 times in the 23 conference championships held. This stretch includes championship seasons in 1993, 1995, and 1996.
Women's cross country returns five of its seven runners who competed at nationals last year. That list includes first-team All-Centennial Conference runner Katie Sullivan as she is joined by her fellow all-region honoree Amelia Keyser-Gibson.
The Fords will begin their 2016 season on Saturday, September 3 with the Alumnae Open at 5 p.m. Haverford will host four meets during the regular season, including the 2016 Centennial Conference Championship.