CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Running the same course where they will compete for the Mideast Regional and a spot in the NCAA Championships in just over a month's time, the Haverford College women's cross country team placed fifth at the DeSales Invitational on Saturday. The Fords finished with 143 placement points at the meet.
Dickinson won the event while regionally-ranked Misericordia and Messiah finished in second and third. The Fords did record a win over regionally-ranked Elizabethtown as the Blue Jays placed seventh overall in a deep field.
With 268 total entrants in the race, Hannah Doll led the Fords to the finish line with a 14th place showing in a time of 23:34.2. She was the lone Ford to break the 24 minute mark, but the Fords had each of their top eight runners come in under the 25 minute mark.
Griffin Kaulbach was the second Haverford runner across the line (24:03.1) as the Fords' second through eighth runners had a spread of just 55 seconds between them. Kaulbach placed 27th overall. Team captains Sophie Drew (24:13.8) and Julia Smith (24:22.1) finished in the 31st and 34th positions, respectively. Hannah Yeakey rounded out the Fords' top five with her 42nd place finish in a time of 24:43.2.
Molly Hawkins (24:47.9) and Natalia Cordon (24:49.4) kept Haverford's tight pack coming with 44th and 45th place showings. Lauren Tanel also cracked the top 50 finishers with a personal-best time of 24:58.3, placing 49th overall.
Mckenna Krall (25:03.8), Jolie Jaycobs (25:09.1), and Amalia Axinn (25:41.6) all came across the line during the 25th minute of racing action. Mariana Ramirez (26:04.5), Sophie Schleifer (26:12.6) and Michelle Luu (26:29.1) also came across in the top 100 finishers while Zoe Arditi (27:05.3) finished just outside of that pack. Wrapping up the day on a positive note for the team were personal best times from Annie Connolly-Sporing (28:18.4) and Maggie Doubman (28:51.2).
Women's cross country will back in race action next Saturday, October 13 for the Jack Saint Clair Memorial Invitational. That race is scheduled to get underway for the women at 12:15 p.m. at Belmont Plateau.