Personal Records Fall as Women’s Cross Country Places 29th at NCAA Pre-Nationals

Allice Sappenfield and Savannah Shaw - Photos Courtesy of Seawon Park (@photosbyspark)

Posted: Oct 07, 2023

NEWVILLE, Pa. - The Haverford College women's cross country team set several new personal bests Saturday, as they took part in the NCAA Pre-Nationals Invitational, hosted by Dickinson College.The Fords finished 29th out of 39 teams from across the nation.

It was a tough race, and an extremely hilly course, but four Haverford runners saw new personal bests in the 6K trek.

First-year runner Alice Sappenfield led the Haverford pack, finishing 158th with a time of 24:28.8, which was 13.9 seconds faster than her 6k time at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh ast week.

Savannah Shaw finished second for Haverford, securing a season best time at Pre-Nationals. Placing 161st, Shaw completed the course in 24:30.7.

Dominique Monroy had a huge day at the meet, as she crushed her all-time 6K personal best. Monroy's 6k PR was 25:02.4 which was accomplished at the Paul Short Run back in 2022. During Saturday's Pre-Nationals, Monroy toed the finish line 187th at 24:52.9.

Sophomore Carly Priest joined the personal-best party, as she completed the 6K journey with a time of 25:58.7, grabbing 260th place overall.

Just behind Priest, was Junior Krysta Nichols, who braved the hilly terrain and captured a time of 26:00.8, finishing in fifth for the Fords and 263rd overall.

Rounding out sixth and seventh places for the Fords was the duo of Anna Berry (277th) who ended the race with a time of 26:18.8 (a new personal best), and Poppy Chrisman (286th) at 26:37.0.

Other notable finishers for the Fords were Grace Chen (297th, 26:56.8), Audrey Carter (311th, 27:24.7), and Sophia Furman (332nd, 28:39.3).

No. 8 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps captured the race's overall crown, with No. 4 MIT in second, and No. 11 Williams in third. The Fords were able to finish ahead of a pair of Centennial Conference opponents in McDaniel (32nd), and Bryn Mawr (34th). Genna Girard helped Williams to a third place finish, as she ended the race first individually with a time of 21:29.4. Natalie Bitetti of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, and Grace Hadley of WPI, took second and third.

Women's Cross Country will lace up their running shoes again next week at Dream Park in Logan Township, N.J. for the Rowan Border Battle on Saturday, October 14 at 11:00 a.m.