HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's cross country team is ranked 30th nationally during the fifth regular season poll released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Fords fell one spot after a week away from competition and received 49 voting points in the latest rankings release.
Haverford was last in action at the Dickinson Long/Short Invitational on September, October 30. Scoring just three runners in the long race, Haverford was led by seniors Amelia Keyser-Gibson, Nicole Giannetti, and Katie Sullivan. Each of those runners finished in the top 10 of a field which had 190 entrants. Haverford's score of 22 edged out Dickinson by a single point and topped Elizabethtown by a score of 22-43. The Fords also had a notable win over Division I Bucknell that same weekend. Haverford was ineligible for the overall team score as the Fords did not enter any runners in the short (4,000 meter) race.
The Mideast Region continues to have four teams ranked nationally with the preseason order yet to change despite the head-to-head competition at Dickinson. Johns Hopkins continues its reign at No. 1 nationally with six first-place votes. Another Centennial Conference competitor, Dickinson, is second in the poll and held its No. 8 position. Elizabethtown remains the only Mideast team outside of the Centennial Conference to be ranked. The Blue Jays held their spot at No. 20 this week.
This Saturday's Rowan Inter-Regional Border Battle should give the Fords a good test for the Centennial Conference Championship at the end of the month as both Johns Hopkins and Dickinson are expected to compete at this weekend's meet in Glassboro. Additionally, No. 24 Otterbein is also scheduled to compete at Rowan on Saturday.
The women's championship race at Rowan will get underway at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. The open race for the women will start at 12:30 p.m.