Diana Clock/The Hoya The Hoyas easily outdistanced the competition in Oklahoma this weekend.

Senior Jill Laurendeau and junior Amanda Pape sparkled in their season debuts last weekend at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree, both placing in the top five to lead the No. 12 Georgetown women’s cross country team to its second consecutive team victory.

Laurendeau, a cross country All-American last year, was the first collegiate finisher, and Pape claimed fifth place, to guide the Hoyas to a 57-50 victory over runner-up Southwest Missouri State. Kansas (106), Air Force (109) and Texas Tech (157) finished a distant third, fourth and fifth, respectively, among the meet’s 18-team field.

“Based on what I saw last weekend, Southwest Missouri State will probably be first or second in their region and have a shot at being in the top 20 at the national meet. We were able to beat a pretty good team, and we should take some pride in that,” Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Ron Helmer said.

Particularly encouraging were the performances of Laurendeau and Pape who, while running in their first meet of the season, appeared already to be in championship form.

“Jill was a little conservative toward the middle, but she did exactly what she needed to do, and got herself through her first race with a very positive result,” Helmer said. “She came out of it feeling as though she could have run much faster, and that’s what you want at this time of the year.”

Laurendeau covered the 5,000m course in 17 minutes, 44 seconds to earn Georgetown one point in the team scoring, but she placed second overall to Kathy Newberry, a recent college graduate who was competing unattached. Newberry recorded 17:30 to finish 14 seconds ahead of Laurendeau.

“Jill probably could have won pretty easily, but due to all the circumstances leading up to that, and with it being her first race, I think she raced exactly how she should have,” Assistant Coach Juli Henner said. “It would have been a nice win for her, but I think this is the perfect stepping stone to propel her into the championship part of the season.”

In Pape’s first race back after suffering an injury over the summer, she timed 18:22 to place second on the team and earn Georgetown five points.

“[Amanda] is just now really starting to get the training going,” Helmer said. “She’s not quite up to speed in some areas, but things are coming together very quickly. Given all that, I was very pleased with the race she had.”

Juniors Colleen Kelly (18:26) and Rose Wetzel (18:29) and freshman Erin Henry (18:33) comprised the remainder of Georgetown’s scoring five. Senior Allison Snyder (18:45) and freshman Kim Malcolm (19:10) extended Georgetown’s margin of victory by finishing ahead of most other teams’ final scorers.

Consistent with his strategy of withholding several top runners in each regular season race, Helmer decided to rest seniors Erin Sicher and Marni Kruppa, juniors Sarah Scholl and Treniere Clement and sophomores Jodee Adams-Moore and Nicole Lee – each of whom are likely candidates for the team’s postseason lineup.

“I don’t like running back-to-back weekends, particularly those people who are going to be running at the national meet,” Helmer said.

Instead, Helmer decided to line up an almost entirely different group of runners than those who competed Sept. 27 at the high-profile Great American Cross Country Festival.

“If you’re going to have depth, then you’ve got to get your depth ready,” Helmer said. “And the only way they’re going to get ready is if they’re put in situations where they have a chance to run, and be in the top-five and have that responsibility. We can’t just rely on bringing in the next two guns every year. We also have to rely on developing people, and developing people means you put them into some meaningful situations.”

While the focus on long-term development is usually beneficial down the road, sometimes it means taking some hits in the short-term. Case in point, last weekend the team slid 10 spots in the national rankings after finishing sixth at the Great American Cross Country Festival without Laurendeau, Pape and senior All-American Marni Kruppa. Fortunately for the team at the Cowboy Jamboree, the group assembled was able to successfully stave off the competition.

“Last weekend was a step forward for most of the girls,” Henner said. “I think it’s exactly what they needed, especially the people that hadn’t raced yet. It keeps the whole momentum moving, and excitement building, now that the meets are getting bigger and bigger.”

The team will now have an off-week before traveling to Terre Haute, Ind., for Pre-Nationals on Oct. 19.