GU Men First, Women Third At Great American Festival

The Georgetown cross country team began its season in impressive style over the weekend, traveling to Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, to compete in the Great American Cross Country Festival, where the men’s team returned as champions and the women’s squad placed third.

The men bested a field of 21 Mid-Atlantic teams over the rainy weekend to capture the title, and a split-squad of the defending Big East Champion women placed third behind Bringham Young and North Carolina State.

Head Coach Ron Helmer decided to run upperclassmen at the Great American in North Carolina, and freshmen and sophomores at the nearby Williamsburg, Va., William & Mary Inter-Regional Colonial Cross Country Invitational. Helmer said he used the strategy to “get as many people to contribute as possible.”

A young team of women cross-country runners returned to the Hilltop from Williamsburg with a fourth place finish. Georgetown also sent a B team of men’s runners to compete at the William & Mary Invite, where the group placed fifth overall among a field of ten.

On Saturday, the men entered the Great American ranked seventh nationally and won the event with a team score of 38 points. North Carolina State came in second with 48 points. Michigan State, Duke and Virginia Tech rounded out the top five.

The Hoyas took the top two finishes in the eight-kilometer race with senior David Rodriguez crossing the finish line in a time of 24:18.3 and placing first. Assistant Coach Patrick Henner called the performance “a great win for Rodriguez.” Junior ike Smith came in second with a time of 24:20.5. Henner added Corey Smith, who finished in sixth place and earned the Hoyas five points with his time of 24:25.8, “held up well and ran a very good race too,” Henner said.

Seniors Kyle Smits and Matt Dunn finished with point-scoring times of 24:40.0 and 25:58.3 to take 14th and 21st, respectively.

Brigham Young took the women’s five-kilometer event on Saturday, finishing with a team-best 36 points. Runner-up North Carolina State finished with 57, and the Hoyas’ 91 points were good enough for third.

Sylvia Chelimo of Gardner-Webb timed 16:55.7 to take first. Two runners from Bringhan Young and Sheela Agrawal of Duke finished out the top four. Graduate student Autumn Fogg, who earned All-American honors in cross-country two years ago, logged the fastest time for Georgetown, finishing fifth in 17:13.4. Senior Lorena Adams took 17th and earned 14 points for the Hoyas with a time of 17:36.5. Emily Enstice finished 22nd with a time of 17:49.6. Junior Kristen Gordon and senior Kate Crowley comprised the final two scores for Georgetown with times of 17:55.1 and 18.14.7, respectively. Hemler said he was especially pleased with former walk-on Crowley’s performance.

The effort topped 18 other schools, with Duke, Michigan State, Virginia Tech and Furman all finishing behind the Hoya women.

“We got beaten by some very good teams,” Helmer said, referring to sixth-ranked Bringham Young and eighth-ranked North Carolina State. “It was our opening race, and we still have work to do. I have a feeling we can be very good, but now we just need to focus on the work that needs to be done.”

On Saturday at the William & Mary Invitational, freshman Amanda Pape placed eighth overall with a time of 18:11.2 in the 5K race. Helmer said Pape “ran very well against good competition.” Helmer also praised freshman Colleen Kelly’s effort of 18:48.0, which took 22nd place. A strong race by sophomore Liz Churchville, who timed 18:50.3 placed her 25th overall among the field of 129 runners. Sophomores Carly Nuzabach and Jill Laurendeau rounded out the scoring five for the Hoyas.

The promising weekend should be a good sign of things to come this season for the Hoyas, who have been ranked in the top 10 nationally for 12 years in a row.

“We just need to make sure we keep our same focus entering the Big East Championships,” Henner said.

Next week the team will travel to Fairfax, Va., for the George Washington Invitational.