HAVERFORD, Pa. – Hannah Doll earned second-team All-Centennial Conference honors with a 14th place finish to help lead the Haverford College women's cross country team to a third place finish at the 2018 Centennial Conference Championships. The Fords beat rival Swarthmore for the first time this season on criteria after the teams each scored 100 placement points. Johns Hopkins won the event with a perfect 15 points, while Dickinson scored 58 points to place second.
Despite the running on the wet course, Doll was one of five Haverford runners who set personal best times at the 6,000 meter distance as she crossed the line in a time of 22:37.6. That mark best her previous best 6K by 32 seconds and gave her All-Centennial Conference status for the first time in her cross country career.
On a day where every point counted, senior co-captains Sophie Drew and Julia Smith stepped up and played huge roles in the Fords' success. Drew shaved 22 seconds off of her previous personal best and placed 18th overall with a time of 22:59.6. Smith was the team's third finisher in a time of 23:46.1, cutting nearly 16 seconds off of her previous personal best time. She placed 28th overall.
Griffin Kaulbach followed Smith to the finish line in 29th place with a time of 23:48.3. That time was just two seconds off of her previous best. Mckenna Krall jumped into Haverford's top five for the first time this season as she placed 36th overall with a time of 24:02.0.
Right behind Krall were Izzy Miller (24:11.4), Jolie Jaycobs (24:15.9), and Lauren Tanel (24:20.3). That trio all cracked the top 40 finishers, with Jaycobs and Tanel both setting new PRs at the 6,000 meter distance. That trio was also crucial in the Fords getting the tiebreak criteria and a crucial Hood Trophy point over Swarthmore. With the top five finishers combining to score 100 points for both Tri-Co schools, Miller's 38th place finish as the Fords' sixth runner was three seconds faster than the Garnet's sixth runner.
Molly Hawkins was Haverford's next finisher as she placed 45th with a time of 24:34.1. Hannah Yeakey also broke the 25 minute mark with a time of 24:49.6 to place 52nd. Natalia Cordon (25:17.9) and Angie Petrichenko (25:57.9) also battled the elements of the varsity race to place 63rd and 75th, respectively.
Women's cross country will return to action two weeks from today as the Fords get set for the NCAA Mideast Regional. Hosted by DeSales once again, the regional race will feature seven individual entrants from each team with the top two squads earning automatic bids to the NCAA Championship. The women's race will get underway at 11 a.m. that day.