Team History
Women's track at Haverford has had a huge increase in numbers and a steady upsurge in performance level throughout the 1990's after a slow beginning in the previous decade.
The team is now among the strongest annually in Centennial Conference and has sent many athletes to NCAA Division III championships. Head coach Fran Rizzo, who was with the team when it was still a club and now serves as full-time head coach, is the creator and guardian of the women's track tradition. The team runs on new all-weather surfaces, both the Johnson Track outdoors and a textured 200-meter track in Alumni Field House.
The women won the Centennial outdoor title in 1995, the indoor championship in 2004 and have been second six times indoors and five times outdoors to other conference schools. A series of determined runners including Jen Maranzano '94, Danielle Wolfrom '94, Katie Terry '95 and Meredith Unger '97 have been both fine performers and strong leaders. Unger won an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and amassed an amazing total of nine Centennial Conference gold medals indoors and out in 1500- and 3000-meter runs. Wolfrom, a 1,500 meter All-America in 1993 and Most Valuable Performer at the 1992 MACs, captained her teams in 1993-94 while recovering from myriad foot injuries. Marcia Grimes '91 was perhaps the outstanding all-around performer in Haverford's early years of varsity track and retains several college records.
Kristen Wilson '03 was an NCAA 10,000-meter qualifier in each of her first two years, while Jane Steinemann '04 finished seventh to become the Fords' first-ever frosh All-America in 2001. Haverford's other recent NCAA top eights were Rachel Mosher '99 in the 5,000 and 10,000, and Centennial Conference indoor and outdoor track Athlete of the Year Kate Westfall '99, who became a two-time Division III All-American in the 3,000 after an outstanding soccer career, and Aislinn Sowash '07, who earned All-America honors in the 55m hurdles (indoor) and 100m hurdles (outdoor) during her freshman year.