HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's cross country team returned to the NCAA Championship for the sixth time in the last seven years in 2015. The Fords have placed lower than second at the conference championship just four times in this century. Looking ahead to this fall, Haverford looks to its talented youth to carry on that tradition of success.
Expected to run near the front of the pack all year are junior captains Katie Sullivan and Amelia Keyser-Gibson. Sullivan was Haverford's top finisher at both the Centennial Conference Championship and Mideast Regional. She earned first-team All-CC honors and All-Mideast Region honors as a result of those respective sixth and ninth place finishes. Keyser-Gibson led the team to the finish line during the Fords' 22nd place finish at the NCAA Championship last fall. The 46th fastest runner at the NCAA Championship was just seconds away from earning All-America honors last fall.
Fellow juniors Nicole Giannetti, MaryKate Cavanaugh, and Sarah Wade also represented Haverford at the NCAA Championship. Giannetti was the team's fourth scoring runner with a 183rd place finish in her first national championship. Cavanaugh and Wade were the sixth and seventh finishers throughout the 2015 season and will be counted on as potential scoring runners this fall. The final members of the junior class are Alison Love and Liana Alves. Love has a personal best time of 24:14 which she set at the Paul Short Invitational during the 2014 season. Alves set her PR of 26:05.56 at the Rowan Inter-Regional.
A trio of sophomores broke the 25 minute mark in their first year with the Fords. Sophie Drew ran the fastest time in that group with a personal best time of 24:28.6 at the 6,000 meter distance. Caroline Henry posted her best 6,000 meter time of 24:59.4 at the Paul Short Run in 2015 and will look to move up in the field with a year of collegiate experience. Julia Smith set her 6K PR at the Rowan Inter-Regional with a time of 24:47.09. Abby Harrison is the fourth sophomore on the young team and will look to make her cross country debut this fall.
Amanda Glavin and co-captain Allison Hacker will represent Haverford as the lone seniors on the women's side. Glavin was limited to just two races and ran both of her personal best times in the three-mile and 6,000 meter distance during 2013. Hacker broke both of her PRs last fall as she crossed the line in a time of 25:18.36 at the Rowan Inter-Regional. Looking to provide depth to the team will be the addition of eight freshmen. That freshman class is the biggest on the entire roster.
The 2016 season will be head coach Fran Rizzo's 27th leading the Fords. A three-time conference champion in cross country, Rizzo's cross country teams has made it to the NCAA Championship as a team during 15 different seasons and have had 13 All-American performances in the fall. Looking to have an All-American in cross country for the first time since 2012, the Fords will run in four meets on the Alumni Cross Country Course this fall in addition to the team's scrimmage. The last home meet of the year will see the Fords compete for the Centennial Conference Championship.