Centennial Conference Championship Central
Haverford at the Centennial Conference Championships
HAVERFORD, Pa. – The postseason gets underway for the Haverford College women's cross country team as Gettysburg is set as the host of the 2019 Centennial Conference Championship. The women's race is set for a 12 p.m. noon start on Saturday.
Coming in with third-place finishes during each of the last four seasons, Haverford has placed first or second at the conference meet in 17 of the first 26 Centennial Championships. The Fords won titles in 1993, 1995, and 1996. The Fords have had the conference's individual champion on six occasions, with the most recent champion from Haverford coming during the 2009 season as Emily Lipman '12 emerged victorious. Four of the top seven teams in the Mideast Regional will line up as the No. 7 Fords are joined by Johns Hopkins (No. 1 Mideast), Dickinson (No. 2 Mideast), and Swarthmore (No. 4 Mideast.)
The Fords have had at least one All-Centennial Conference performer (top 14 individual finishers) during each of the conference's first 26 championship meets. Haverford has averaged just under three all-conference performers per year with 34 first-team honorees and 40 second-team honorees over the first 26 championship races. The Fords have had multiple runners named All-Centennial Conference in 23 of the 26 championship races.
Two-time NCAA qualifier Hannah Doll kept the string of All-CC success alive last year as she ran to a 14th place finish on the Alumni Cross Country Course. Doll was the team's top finisher on the Gettysburg course two weeks ago. Griffin Kaulbach should also be near the front of the pack for the Fords as she is coming off an individual title at the Haverford Invitational and set a personal-best 6,000 meter time at the Paul Short Run (22:46.9).
Seven more Fords have broken the 24-minute mark during their careers and will look to be among the Fords top seven as teams are allowed to enter a maximum of 12 individuals into the varsity race. Mckenna Krall will be entering her fourth conference championship and is looking to improve off of back-to-back 36th place finishes. Izzy Miller nearly broke the 23-minute mark at Paul Short and placed 38th in conference debut a season ago. Jolie Jaycobs was right behind Miller a season ago and set a personal-best time of 23:55.6 at Paul Short. Amalia Axinn has come on strong during the month of October with a time of 23:33.8 at Paul Short. First-years Sheena Dwyer-McNulty and Cate Tomson have also hit the ground running their rookie seasons and also set personal best times at Paul Short early in October.
Lauren Tanel brings championship experience into the meet for the Fords are she set her personal best time at last year's Centennial Conference Championship during a 52nd place finish. Natalia Cordon was 63rd at last year's conference meet but set a personal best time of 24:11.8 on Gettysburg's course just two weeks ago. Angie Petrichenko also competed in the varsity race a season ago and broke through the 24-minute mark at Paul Short for the first time in her career. First-years Ellie Keating and Faizah Khan give the Fords two other options to field their lineup this weekend. Keating just missed breaking into a 24-minute time at Paul Short while Khan was the fifth-place finisher at the Haverford Invitational during her collegiate debut.
In addition to the women's race at noon, the men's championship will go off at 11 a.m. with the open race slated for a 12:45 p.m. start which will be followed by the awards ceremony. The first through seventh-place finishers in the varsity races will earn first-team All-CC accolades, while eighth through 14th place runners will garner second-team status. After the conference championship, the Fords will have two more weeks to prepare for the Mideast Regional which will be contested on Saturday, November 16.