HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's cross country team was well represented in the USTFCCCA All-Region Awards, with Head Coach Fran Rizzo taking home Metro Region Coach of the Year Honors while senior Izzy Miller was named the Metro Region Athlete of the Year.
Rizzo earns Region Coach of the Year honors for the first time. He previously has been named the Centennial Conference Coach of the Year on three occasions, most recently following the 2013 season. In his 31st year at the helm of the Haverford program, the squad won the team title at the Metro Region Championships, finishing with 88 total points for the program's first-ever regional title. Haverford was the third-place finisher at the Centennial Conference Championships, scoring 97 points and also impressed at the Rowan Inter-Region Border Battle in October, finishing fourth in that late-season race as the Fords made their initial push towards postseason competition.
Miller picked up the Athlete of the Year honor, becoming Haverford's first individual regional champ since the 1996 season when Meredith Unger accomplished that feat. In total, Miller is Haverford's sixth individual champion in a regional meet, and the first to top the field in a year where the Fords were a team champion. Earlier in the season, Miller also placed first at the Rowan Inter-Regional Border Battle in 21:33.8 and Haverford's own three-miler, the Main Line Invitational, in 17:26.6. She also was named first-team All-Centennial Conference after a runner-up finish at the Centennial Conference Championships in 21:57.5.
With finishes in the top 35 at the Rowan-hosted Metro Regional Championships, Miller, Angie Petrichenko, and Griffin Kaulbach all earned All-Region designation by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the second consecutive season in which Haverford has had three All-Region designees.
Fresh off the title in the Metro Region Championships, Haverford will compete at the NCAA Division III Championships, which are set for Saturday, November 20 in Louisville, Kentucky. This is the programs' 18th trip to nationals, and first since the 2017 season.