CROSS COUNTRY Hoyas Capture Championship By Tom Kenny Hoya Staff Writer

Hoya File Photo The Hoyas won a championship.

The Georgetown women’s cross country team, currently ranked third in the country, continued their highly successful season this past Saturday as they won the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Cross Country Championship. It was the third year in a row that the Hoyas took home this crown.

The win gives the Hoyas an automatic berth in the NCAA National Cross Country Championships, which will be held Furman University in Greenville, S.C., on Nov. 19. The men’s cross country team also had a very successful weekend as they finished second to Villanova in the men’s division of this event. Based on their second place finish, the men’s team will also be competing in the NCAA National Championships at Furman.

This win was expected for the women as they had dominated many of the teams in their region, most recently at the Big East Championships, which they won two weeks ago. Two of the Hoyas’ top freshmen runners, Nicole Lee and Jodee Adams-Moore, were rested in this event by Head Coach Ron Helmer in anticipation of the national meet, which will take place only nine days after the regionals. “We ran very, very conservatively and we took control much more easily than I expected,” Helmer said of the women’s performance.

All four of the top finishers in the 6K race were Hoyas. Juniors arni Kruppa and Jill Larendeau were co-winners with a time of 20:34.31. Follwing them were junior Erin Sicher and sophomore Amanda Pape in third and fourth place, respectively. These high finishes gave the Hoyas a total of 22 points which easily outdistanced that of the second place finisher, Villanova, who had 69.

Looking forward to the National Championships, Helmer said, “We think we can get a trophy, which one we get probably depends on the other teams.” The top four finishers at the National Championships are awarded trophies. “We’ve been so consistent all year, I don’t think we’ll give in to the pressure of this meet,” Helmer added.

The toughest competition for the Hoyas at this meet should come from Stanford and BYU, who are the teams ranked ahead of the Hoyas nationally.

The men’s performance this weekend may in fact have been more significant simply because, while the women were an overwhelming favorite to win their event, it was far less certain that the men would be a top two finisher and thus secure one of the automatic berths in the National Championships. The Hoyas were led this weekend by two freshmen and one senior.

Freshmen Rod Kaborsi continued his strong season by finishing fourth with a time of 30:40.75. Senior Chris Miltenburg was right behind him in fifth place while freshman Chris Esselborn crossed the line in 13th place.

“The two freshmen came in running. They put in an incredible summer of work and [Assistant Coach Patrick Henner] did an incredible job with them,” Coach Helmer said.

Overall, the second place Hoyas, with a score of 90, were 15 points behind champion Villanova, who was heavily favored to win the event.

Helmer noted that Villanova was expected to win the event more easily and that the Hoyas close second place finish was bit of a surprise.

The Hoyas were closer to Villanova than the third place team, Princeton, was to them. The Tigers came in with a score of 114.

“We felt like if we could get this team to a national meet with all the people we redshirted this year, it’d be a great accomplishment,” Helmer said.

Looking toward the national championships on the men’s side, Helmer said, “They’ve got a great challenge ahead of them.”

He noted that the goal for the men’s program is to reach the same level as the women’s program, a consistent top 10 team. This meet will be a solid indicator of how close the Hoyas are to that goal.