Hoya Staff Writer Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Georgetown started the second half of its season with a new lineup of runners, and a pair of top-two team finishes, at the James Madison Invitational. The Hoya men’s team, ranked No. 14 by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, earned a first-place tie, and the No. 24 women’s team earned a second-place finish, at this Saturday’s competition in New Market, Va. The men’s team, whose 33 points shared top billing with Duke, was led by junior Matt Debole and sophomore Andrew Bumbalough. The duo swept the top two places in the 8000-meter race with times of 25:03.2 and 25:03.5. The next Hoya to cross the line was senior Brian Dalpiaz, who finished in fifth with a time of 25:30:8. In third place was Duke junior Chris Spooner who finished eight seconds behind with a time of 25:11.4. The pair of junior Brandon Bonsey and freshman Alex Bean rounded out the Hoya finishers with 11th- and 17th-place performances. Bonsey finished the course in 26:01.0, while Bean made his debut as a Hoya in 26:18.2 seconds. The Georgetown women’s squad fell 10 points short of surpassing the No. 7 Blue Devils, who finished in first place. The women accumulated 42 points behind Duke’s 32 points. The effort was led by junior Jennie Funk, who finished third overall with a time of 19:20 over the 5100m course. “Jennie is getting good training in and is finally healthy,” Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Ron Helmer said. “Her confidence level has grown dramatically since last year, and that’s a key factor.” Graduate student Hillary Bontz was next in line with her time of 19:46, good for fifth place. Sophomore Natasha Labeaud, who redshirted her first year followed shortly behind with a seventh-place time of 19:49. Both finishes were good signs for the Hoyas: Bontz and Labeaud are both newcomers to racing on the Hilltop. The freshman pair of Lauren Gregory and Renee Tomlin made their Hoya debuts by finishing among the Hoyas’ top five with 13th and 14th place overall finishes. Their times were 20:35 and 20:44. The Hoyas continue their season at the William & Mary Cross Country Challenge in Williamsburg, Va. on September 30th. The Hoyas did not compete at William and Mary last year and should face competition from the nationally ranked William and Mary Tribe. After William and Mary, Georgetown has two weeks off before the Pre-national meet in Terre Haute, Ind. “We’ll probably run the team all together in two weeks for the first time, where a lot will start to come together for the rest of the season,” Helmer said.