The debut of the No. 7 Georgetown men’s and No. 19 women’s cross-country teams resulted in gained experiences, with the men placing third out of 10 teams with 90 points and the women coming in second out of nine competing schools, finishing with 55 points, at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Club Invitational.
Men’s Head Coach Brandon Bonsey sat his top six runners going into the meet, allowing his younger runners to gain race experience. Junior Christian Alvarado led the way for the Hoyas, capturing fourth place with a time of 26:31.6.
“Syracuse is the best team in the country and Christian ran right with some of their best guys,” Bonsey said in an interview with GUHoyas.com. “I thought that was a great sign. When we go to Paul Short in three weeks, we will line up a full team.”
Graduate student Michael Crozier followed Alavardo and crossed the finish line in eighth place with a time of 26:43.6. This performance scored a total of eight points for the Hoyas. Sophomore Spencer Brown captured 12th place, coming in at 26:54.7.
“The first three men ran really well,” Bonsey said. “Christian Alvarado had a great summer and proved today why he was one of the elite recruits in the country. Mike Crozier had his best cross-country race ever and Spencer Brown had a great debut.”
On the women’s side, junior Autumn Eastman continued to build on her cross-country success from last year. Eastman led all Hoyas, claiming sixth overall. Eastman crossed the finish line at 21:17, recording six points for the Hoyas. Junior Madeline Perez captured seventh place with a time of 21:21.
Freshman Paige Hofstad enjoyed a very successful debut, crossing the finish line at 21:40, good enough for 12th place. Bonsey expects big things from Hofstad this season.
“I thought the women competed very well today,” Bonsey said. “They had a short spread and worked well together as a team. Autumn Eastman and Madeline Perez demonstrated excellent upperclassman leadership and Paige Hofstad had a tremendous Hoya debut. We sat out a couple key pieces but once we line everyone up, this team has huge potential.”
Sophomore Audrey Belf crossed the finish line at 21:40 to continue her success from last year. She scored 12 points for the Hoyas. Junior Piper Donaghu experienced a positive first race, scoring 17 points with a time of 21:48 — good for 17th place.
Freshmen Maegen Doody and Margie Cullen each performed well, finishing at 22:07 and 22:50 respectively.
Both the men and women each race again Oct. 1 in Bethlehem, Penn., at the Paul Short Run.
Note: Sports Information could not be reached for further comments.
