HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's cross country team is ranked No. 31 in the preseason poll released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Fords, ranked fourth in the Mideast Region, received 39 voting points in the preseason release.
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. 1 preseason ranking to lead all the regional competitors, while Elizabethtown (No. 18) and Dickinson (No. 24) are also among the teams recognized nationally.
The Fords return all seven of their scoring runners from a team which placed 23rd at the NCAA Division III Championship last year. Haverford will be seeking its eighth team appearance at the national meet in the last nine seasons. The Fords have qualified for the NCAA Championship as a team on 16 different occasions with the Fords' best finish coming after a 10th place showing in 1993.
Katie Sullivan led the Fords at last year's national championship with a 52nd place finish. Her fellow seniors on this year's team, Nicole Giannetti and Amelia Keyser-Gibson, crossed the line in the 135th and 136th positions. Sarah Wade, Abe Doroshow, MaryKate Cavanaugh, and Alison Love all placed in the 200s. Keyser-Gibson's best finish at the national meet was a 46th place showing in 2015. Both Sullivan and Keyser-Gibson are two-time All-Mideast Region performers in cross country while Giannetti earned that distinction for the first time in her career last fall.
Women's cross country will begin the season in earnest as it hosts the Haverford Open this Saturday, September 2 before the annual Alumnae Race on Saturday, September 9 at 4:45 p.m. on the Alumni Cross Country Course.