HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's cross country team will begin its 2019 season as the No. 30-ranked team in the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) preseason national rankings. The Fords garnered 40 points in the national poll and are ranked fourth overall in the Mideast Region.
The No. 4 ranking in the Mideast Region matches the Fords' placement from the regional championship in 2018. Although the Fords were not ultimately selected for the NCAA Championships as an at-large team last fall, Hannah Doll placed high enough to qualify to nationals as an individual where she placed 141st overall, a nearly 100 spot improvement from her appearance on the national stage as a first-year when the entire team qualified.
Haverford also brings back experience from the NCAA Cross Country Championships with Hannah Yeakey and Mckenna Krall who competed as part of that 2017 team as well. In total, five of Haverford's top seven runners from last year return to the team which will look to get back to the national championships. Griffin Kaulbach, Izzy Miller, Krall, and Jolie Jaycobs joined Doll at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship last fall.
The NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships take the top 32 teams (16 automatic qualifiers and 16 at-large bids) to compete in the national meet. The Fords had made the national championship in three straight years before just missing the final spot in the field a season ago. The Fords have qualified to the NCAA Championship as a team 17 times in program history. That string of success includes 13 trips as a team over the past 17 seasons.
The 2019 season gets underway this Saturday, August 31 at the Haverford Open which is slated for a 6 p.m. start on the Alumni Cross Country Course.