HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's cross country team was ranked No. 14 in the preseason poll released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Fords, ranked second in the Mideast Region, received 166 voting points in the poll.
Haverford is one of four teams in the top 35 that hails from the Mideast Region – three of which come from the Centennial Conference. Johns Hopkins earned the No. 3 preseason ranking to lead all the regional competitors, while Elizabethtown (No. 18) and Dickinson (No. 35) are also among the teams to receive votes nationally.
Haverford returns five of its seven runners who competed at the NCAA Championship a season ago. Haverford placed 24th at the NCAA Cross Country Championship last year and will be seeking its seventh team appearance at the national meet in the last eight seasons. The Fords have qualified for the NCAA Championship as a team on 15 different occasions with the Fords' best finish coming after a 10th place showing in 1993.
Amelia Keyser-Gibson was Haverford's top runner at the national meet last fall as she finished 46th overall and just missed All-America honors. Katie Sullivan was 159th overall and Nicole Giannetti placed 183rd in 2015 as scoring runners for the team. MaryKate Cavanaugh and Sarah Wade were the team's sixth and seventh finishers a season ago.
Women's cross country will run its annual Alumnae Race this Saturday at 5 p.m. on the Alumni Cross Country Course.