TRACK Georgetown Freshmen To Represent U.S. By Scott Homa Hoya Staff Writer

Photo Courtesy Daniel Niednagel Freshman Nicole Lee runs at the women’s junior national championships. She took fourth.

Georgetown’s emerging cross-country stars came out to shine last weekend at the USA junior national championships in Vancouver, Wa., as four Hoya freshman lined up against America’s best young distance runners to compete for the right to represent the United States in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Dublin, Ireland next month.

The top six finishers of each of the men’s and women’s races qualify, and two Georgetown runners, Rod Koborsi and Nicole Lee, earned spots on the U.S. national team.

Koborsi, the men’s team’s top finisher at the NCAA Championships last November, turned in Georgetown’s top performance, earning runner-up honors in the junior men’s 8,000m run. In a tight contest, Koborsi covered the four laps of the two-kilometer course in 24:55 seconds, crossing the line a mere seven seconds behind the winner, 2001 Foot Locker high school national champion Timothy Moore.

“The race was fairly smooth until about the 5K mark, where the field started to split up,” Koborsi said.

“At the 5K mark, Moore put in a big surge and went for the lead,” Assistant Coach Patrick Henner said. “Rod caught up to him, and they ran together for a while, until the last 600m, where Moore gradually started to pull away.”

Moore held on to the lead, crossing the line in 24:48, and Koborsi came in close on his heels.

“Rod did a great job,” Henner said. “He was a little overzealous at times, not taking the time to sit back and relax, which may have allowed him to win, but at a meet like this, it’s not so much about winning as it is just making the team.”

Chris Esselborn, who was Georgetown’s third runner at the NCAA championships, timed 25:23 for seventh place. His mark fell just one spot away from qualifying for the national team.

“Chris is just a little bit away from being a great runner,” Henner said. “I think he may have gone out a little too hard, because he fell behind in the third lap, into 12th place. But I was pleased that he was able to refocus, get going again, and move up to seventh by the end of the race.”

Charles Millioen, who redshirted last season, claimed 27th place with a time of 26:45.

“Overall, I was pretty excited with how the men did,” Henner said. “I’m happy Rod made it, and Chris and Charlie got some valuable racing experience. They’ve all been training hard and are in great shape, so this was good preparation for them.”

In the women’s race, Nicole Lee squared off against conference rival, and All-American Maria Cicero of Boston College, Stanford’s 2000 high school national champion Sara Bei and this year’s Foot Locker nationals runner-up Erica Odlaug to earn fourth place and secure a spot on the U.S. team.

“Entering the race, I had no clue of what my chances were of making the team and was just trying to run well,” Lee said. “The pace started pretty fast, and the course was rolling, so it was tough to get into a rhythm, but the coaches told me to keep in contact with the top five runners and stay in the front of the pack, and I tried to follow that plan.”

Lee remained among the frontrunners for the entire race, eventually finishing fourth in a time of 21:33. Cicero won in 21:05, and defending champion Laura Zeigle recorded a 12th place finish (22:19).

“Nicole ran a great race,” Henner said. “She proved she wasn’t afraid to go out in front and hang with the best runners in the nation.”

Lee’s performance comes on the heels of a very successful freshman year campaign in which she recorded top-10 finishes at the ount St. Mary’s Invitational, Cowboy Jamboree and Big East Championship, and ran fifth for the team at nationals.

Lee and Koborsi’s performances at junior nationals not only affirms their standing among the country’s elite runners, but also bodes well for the future of the Georgetown cross-country program, as both runners will look to add to their team’s success in the next three years.

Last December, the women’s team capped off one of their most successful seasons in school history with a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Next year, the team will return all of their top seven runners, including Lee and All-American juniors arni Kruppa and Jill Laurendeau.

The men, who took 15th at nationals last season, will also have high expectations, losing only one runner to graduation and with sophomore standout Franklyn Sanchez and junior Mike Smith returning to action after redshirting last season.

“I’m really looking forward to next year’s cross country season,” Koborsi said. “We’re all excited, and everyone’s coming in with the same set of high goals and expectations.”

But before Koborsi gets the chance to don the blue and gray as a sophomore, he and Lee will toe the line one final time as freshmen wearing red, white and blue at the March 23 finale.

“The race is a huge event over in Europe and the competition at the world level is unbelievable,” Henner said. “It should be great experience for them.”