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Women's Cross Country Set for Centennial Conference Championship

Women's Cross Country Set for Centennial Conference Championship

HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's cross country team begins its postseason this Saturday with the Centennial Conference Championship. Hosted by the Fords on the Alumni Cross Country Course, the women's race will get underway at 11 a.m. The Open Race will begin at 12:45 p.m.

The Fords boast a proud tradition in the conference as they have placed either first or second in 17 of the 24 championships since the conference's inception in 1993. They have placed outside of the top three just once and are coming off of a second place finish at last year's conference meet.

Haverford looks to be paced by the top four runners in its junior class. Katie Sullivan is a returning first-team All-Centennial Conference selection after she placed sixth in the field a year ago. She set a new personal best at the 6,000 meter distance with a time of 21:25 at the Paul Short Invitational this year. Amelia Keyser-Gibson just missed all-conference accolades last year with a 15th place showing. However, she peaked in the 2015 postseason with her best 6K time coming at the NCAA Championship. Both Nicole Giannetti and MaryKate Cavanaugh set their personal bests in the 6,000 meters in their most recent race of the fall, the Rowan Inter-Regional.

Underclassmen looking to make an impact during their first conference championship include freshmen Abigail Doroshow and Mckenna Krall. Doroshow has been constantly among the team's top five runners and finished with a personal best 6,000 meter time of 22:54 at the Paul Short Invitational. Classmate Krall set her personal best two weeks ago at the Rowan Inter-Regional and has also cracked the Haverford top five this season. Sophomores Sophie Drew and Julia Smith also have set personal bests in the month of October and will be looking to improve on their finishes from a year.

Juniors Alison Love and Sarah Wade have also gone under the 24 minute mark in their Haverford careers. Like many of their teammates, their best races of their careers have come in the past month. Seniors Amanda Glavin and Allison Hacker have broken the 25 minute mark in their careers and will look to impress in their final race of the Alumni Cross Country Course.

Liana Alves comes into the Centennial Conference Championship with a personal best 6,000 meter time of 25:30. Freshmen Jolie Jaycobs, Michelle Luu, and Mariana Ramirez will also look to have a strong showing in their first conference meet.

Haverford has had 65 runners named All-Centennial Conference in the 24 year history of the Centennial Conference Championship. Thirty-two of those selections have been first-team honorees which are presented to the top seven finishers in the race. Second-team All-CC accolades are given to the eighth through 14th place finishers. Haverford has claimed the individual champion six times in program history with the most recent coming during Emily Lipman's '12 first-place finish in 2009.

This weekend's Centennial Conference Championship should also serve as a good test for what the Fords will face at the NCAA Mideast Regional. Four of the top six teams in the Mideast rankings are in the Centennial Conference, headlined by national No. 1 Johns Hopkins and No. 11 Dickinson. Haverford was as high as No. 2 in the regional rankings during the regular season and is No. 4 in the most recent rankings. Swarthmore is No. 6 in the latest regional rankings.