LANCASTER, Pa. – The calendar turns to November this weekend and that means it is time for the postseason for the Franklin & Marshall women's cross country team. The Diplomats will head to Gettysburg for the third time this season as the Bullets serve as the host of the 2025 Centennial Conference Championship. The women's race is set for 12 p.m. as the men will get the championship meet started at 11 a.m.
The Diplomats return all of their top runners from a sixth-place team performance at the 2024 conference championships which was the team's highest placement at the conference meet since they finished fifth as a team in 2019. F&M was also sixth during the 2021 and 2022 seasons to match last year's finish.
Leading the team to the finish all season long has been the trio of sophomore Tara Silverman, junior Katie Scott, and senior Annalise Kauffman. Silverman nearly eclipsed the 22 minute mark on the 6,000 meter course at Gettysburg two weeks ago and has finished second, third, fourth, and seventh this season. She placed 28th at last year's conference championship. Scott has also been close to the 22 minute mark and was the individual champion during F&M's home opener. She was 26th at the 2024 Centennial Conference Championship. Kauffman has also kept pace with her teammates times, finishing in the top 10 during three of F&M's four regular season races. She was a career-best 37th at this meet from last year.
A number of upperclassmen look to be in the mix for scoring positions. Jordyn Colie placed 50th at the 2024 championship. Classmate Georgia Hodgson ran her best in the postseason a year ago at the regional championship while Hana Hyman returns to action after a PR during her most recent race. Seniors Abby Bachman, Anna Atticks, and Lucy Olsen are also experienced members of the squad. Bachman and Atticks have broken the 25 minute mark during their careers and Olsen has come close in recent weeks. All three own top 70 finishes in their cross country careers. Sophomore Emily Jones and first-year Sophia Bloom will be making their conference championship debuts in cross country.
Johns Hopkins, ranked third in the nation and first in the Mid-Atlantic Region, headlines the field. A total of five regionally-ranked squads are set to compete with Haverford (No. 3 Metro), Swarthmore (No. 4 Metro), Gettysburg (No. 4 Mid-Atlantic), and Dickinson (No. 10 Mid-Atlantic).inside the rankings. F&M beat Dickinson at the Little Three Meet just one week after winning its home invitational to start the season.
After this weekend's Centennial Conference Championship, the Diplomats have two more weeks to prepare for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship which is being held in Newville, Pa. on Saturday, November 15. That race will be the meet where bids to the NCAA Division III National Championships will be awarded.
