Georgetown men’s and women’s cross country teams raced in freezing temperatures and a wind chill factor of 20 degrees below zero last week at the NCAA Championships in Ames, Iowa, to close out their seasons with a pair of top ten finishes. The men took seventh place, and the women, coming into the event ranked eighth in the nation, captured the fifth spot.

The women’s fifth place finish marked the 13th consecutive year the squad ended its season among the nation’s top 10. However, the women fell just short of their goal of bringing home a championship trophy, which are awarded to the top four finishers in the race. Neither team left empty handed, as outstanding individual performances earned both Georgetown teams a trio of All-American honors.

In the women’s race, sophomore Marni Kruppa paced the team, crossing the finish line of the 6,000-meter course in 21:20.7 seconds capturing 28th place overall. For Kruppa, who has been recovering from injury, this was only the second race of the season, but the 28th place finish earned her All-American accolades, which are given to the race’s top 30 finishers.

Senior Emily Enstice was close on Kruppa’s heels, finishing second for Georgetown, and 41st overall. In the close contest, Enstice’s time of 21:29.5 left her just seven seconds short of the top 30 finishers.

“Marni and Emily ran great,” Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Ron Helmer said. “There was a really tough wind and that was a major distraction, but they handled it well and ended up running exceptional races.”

Graduate student Autumn Fogg was the third Hoya to cross the line, timing 21:49.5 for 78th place overall. Freshman Amanda Pape’s 21:57.9 mark earned her 98th place, while senior Kristen Gordon’s time of 21:58.5 landed her in 100th place, rounding out the final point-count for the Hoyas.

Senior Lorena Adams and freshman Colleen Kelly also finished in the top half of the 255-runner field, timing 22:09.9 and 22:20.6, respectively.

Colorado captured the women’s team title, placing three runners in the top 30, including individual champion Kara Wheeler (20:30.5), en route to their team-low 117 point score. Brigham Young (167), Stanford (198) and Boston College (214) rounded out the top four.

“I knew we were better than our ranking going into the race,” Helmer said, “and taking fifth, I thought, was a great accomplishment.”

The men’s team turned in another solid performance, scoring 269 points to finish seventh in the nation. Arkansas won the event for the third consecutive year, scoring 83 points. The Razorbacks finished with an 11-point margin of victory over the runner-up Colorado Bison. Providence, ranked fourth going into the championship, finished third with 121 points. Stanford (149), Wisconsin (167 points) and Villanova (181 points) finished out the top six.

“As a team we were disappointed,” Assistant Coach Patrick Henner said. “But this is one of Georgetown’s top finishes ever, so I think it shows where we’re coming along as a program.”

Freshman Franklyn Sanchez logged the fastest time for the Hoyas, covering the 10,000-meter course in a blistering 30:26.9 to take fifth overall. This was only the third collegiate race for Sanchez, who did not run in any of the Hoyas’ regular season contests this year. The performance marked the fourth-best individual cross-country finish in Georgetown history.

“Franklyn had an incredible race,” Coach Henner said. “To run as aggressively as he did [as a freshman] and finish fifth is truly a great performance.”

“I was scared before the race, but when the gun went off, the nervousness went away, ” Sanchez said. “Within the first mile, I was up with the leaders in the pack, and I decided at about the two-mile mark to just go for it. I broke apart and had about a five-second lead, going into the toughest part of the course, and thought that if I worked hard, the last part would be OK.”

Sanchez held on to his lead, blocking the cold wind for the rest of the front-runners until the last mile. In the home stretch, the defending national champion David Kimani out of Alabama, along with Providence’s Big East champion Keith Kelly, Farleigh-Dickinson’s Mid-Atlantic regional champion Stephen Ondieki and Colorado’s Pre-National champion Jorge Torres eventually overtook the young Sanchez for the lead.

“I was hurting bad when I crossed the line, but it was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had,” Sanchez said. “I felt like I made a couple of mistakes, but I was very satisfied taking fifth in my first experience at NCAAs.”

Senior David Rodriguez followed Sanchez, coming in at 30:56.3 to take 23rd. Rodriguez and Sanchez’s top-30 finishes earned both runners All-American honors.

“David ran an exceptional race,” said Coach Henner, “and to come out with two All-Americans should make us very proud.”

Sophomore Mike Smith, who finished 9th overall against most of the same competition at last month’s pre-national meet, battled an illness in the championship to record 31:28.0 for 71st place.

Senior Corey Smith (31:53.9) and junior Chris Miltenberg (31:56.8) rounded out the GU point scorers, taking the 120th and 127th spots, respectively.

Providence senior Keith Kelly won the race in a time of 30:14.5.