Despite strong individual performances, Georgetown University’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams fell just short of qualifying for the 2017 NCAA Championships at the 2017 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Championships last weekend.

The top two teams at the Mid-Atlantic Region Championships advance to the 2017 NCAA Cross-Country Championships, but Georgetown’s men’s and women’s teams fell just short of advancing in the competition with their fourth- and third-place finishes.

However, graduate student Jonathan Green and freshman Martha MacDonald have each secured a spot in the NCAA Championships with their individual performances.

For a second consecutive race, All-American Jonathan Green secured an individual win for Georgetown’s men’s cross-country team with a 38:28:3 time.   Green won the individual title at the 2017 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Championships last Friday in Bethlehem, Pa., following his victory at the Big East Championship.

The victory helped the Hoya men earn fourth place in a field of 26 teams after arriving to the competition as the top-ranked team in the region and having won the past two years.

Going into the competition, Head Coach Brandon Bonsey expressed optimism about the team’s prospects.

“The postseason is what we gear all of our training toward,” Bonsey said in an interview with GUHoyas. “We did a solid job at the Big East meet and now we have to be better than that tomorrow at the regional meet. The team has come together very well the last couple weeks and I’m confident that we will see the best version of this group.”

Behind Green, the Hoya’s following four point-scorers all finished within 51 seconds. Junior Nick Wareham finished second for Georgetown in 17th place with a time of 30:51.3.

Wareham was followed next by senior Nick Golebiowski, who came in 28th place with a time of 31:00.0. Junior Reilly Bloomer and sophomore Jack Van Scoter took 35th place and 41th place with times of 31:08.9 and 31:19.4, respectively.

The Hoya men’s final score totaled 122 points, placing them behind Princeton, Navy and Villanova. Green and Wareham were awarded All-Region titles for their performances.

Bonsey praised Green’s individual performance but expressed some disappointment with the team’s overall performance.

“Jon Green ran a very smart race to earn his first regional title,” Bonsey said. “He closed very fast and is ready to run with the best athletes in the NCAA. I’m extremely disappointed in how our team performed . We need to look in the mirror and figure out what went wrong. This is a talented group and I’m confident we will rebound and have a great rest of the year.”

Georgetown’s women’s cross-country team placed just ahead of the men, earning third place in a field of 28 teams with a final score of 88 points.

The Hoya women secured one place in the top 10 with Georgetown’s first runner freshman Martha MacDonald coming in ninth place with a time of 20:18.4.

Director of Track and Field and Cross-Country Julie Culley praised MacDonald’s race.

“Martha MacDonald had a great day today and this young team has a bright future,”  Culley said in an interview with GUHoyas. “She wanted to finish top 10 and she fought hard for her ninth-place finish.”

Georgetown’s top three finishers, including graduate student Meredith Rizzo and senior Madeline Perez, ran All-Region performances.

Rizzo earned 22nd place with a time of 20:42.3, while Perez earned 25th place with a time of 20:45.2.

Georgetown’s fourth and fifth runners finished closely behind Perez, with senior Josette Norris coming in 26th place with a time of 20:47.6 and senior Kennedy Weisner coming in 27th place with a time of 20:52.5.

Following their season trend, the women’s final four point-scorers formed a tight pack, finishing within a period of 10.2 seconds and bringing the team’s score to 109 points.

“We had a race plan for the team going in to this meet to ensure we were one of the top two teams, and we just didn’t put ourselves in a position to be successful,” Culley said.

Culley expressed optimism for MacDonald going into next week’s race.

“We are very excited for Martha and to see what she can do as an individual at NCAAs in a week,”  Culley said.

Green and MacDonald will return to competition on Saturday at the NCAA Championships in Louisville, Ky.