CROSS COUNTRY Women Take Third Place At National Championships en’s Squad Finishes 15th By Tom Kenny Hoya Staff Writer

Coming into this season, the members of the Georgetown women’s cross-country team had high expectations, and throughout the 2001 season, they consistently lived up to those expectations. They capped off their highly successful season Monday with a third-place finish behind first-place BYU and runner-up N.C. State in the NCAA National Cross Country Championship held at Furman University in Greenville, S.C.

Leading the Hoyas Monday was junior Jill Laurendeau, who finished 14th overall with a time of 21:02. Tara Chaplin of the University of Arizona won the race with a time of 20:24. Coming in second for the Hoyas and 37th overall was junior Marni Kruppa, who was followed by junior Erin Sicher and sophomore Amanda Pape, who crossed the finish line in 43rd and 46th respectively.

“We came in third, but the best we could have come in was second because BYU ran extremely, extremely well,” Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Ron Helmer said. He said that had the Hoyas not run so well they easily could have slipped out of the top five given the competitiveness of the race.

Only 60 points separated the third-place Hoyas, who had a total of 180 points, from eighth-place Colorado, who finished with a score of 240. The third-place finish continued a pattern of solid and steady running that was one of the Hoyas’ trademarks this year.

“As young as we are, we’ve dealt with pressure better than teams in the past,” Helmer said. “This team has the best chemistry of any since I’ve been here.”

While the Hoyas were certainly pleased with their efforts this year overall and in the national meet in particular, there was not an overflow of emotion concerning the race.

“We intended to come here and take home a trophy,” Helmer said, and they did just that.

This group of Hoyas has a great deal to look forward to both in the upcoming indoor and outdoor track seasons and the 2002 cross country season. All of the runners will return next year. “We’re going to go work and get better,” Helmer said. “We know we’re going to be really good, and it’s going to be really exciting.”

When the season began, the Hoyas knew that victories in both the Big East Championship and the NCAA Regional Championship as well as a high finish in the national championship were expected by many. They had to face these expectations without a great deal of experience, as there is not one senior on the team. Add to that the burden of carrying on the tradition of a program that coming into this season had a streak of 13 consecutive top 10 finishes nationally, which is the longest active streak in the country.

While not facing the same expectations as the women’s team, the Georgetown men’s cross country team came into this season with a set of goals to accomplish. Its season also came to an end today with a 15th at the NCAA National Championships and, just as with the women, most would have to say they went beyond even their own expectations.

This was a year to build for the future on the men’s side as several of their top runners were redshirted. With a second-place finish in the regional championships last weekend and a solid performance Monday at the national championships, the Hoyas went a long way in developing a solid foundation for the future as well as accomplishing a great deal this season in particular.

The Hoyas’ 15th place finish was fourth among Big East teams behind Notre Dame, who came in sixth, Villanova, who came in eighth and Providence, who came in 10th. Colorado finished first overall.

“We knew if we could just get this team to nationals that we’d be happy,” Helmer said. “For this group to come in 15th is very significant.”

The Hoyas were led by freshman Rod Kaborsi who came in 73rd overall out of 244 runners. He was followed by freshman Chris iltenberg, who came in 81st, and senior Chris Miltenburg, who came in 86th. Boaz Cheboiywo of Eastern Michigan University won the race.

The success and leadership of the freshmen in the race bodes well for the Hoyas in the future. “The two freshmen didn’t have a bad race all year,” Helmer said. “The leadership is in place and with the group of people we have we’re going to get to the level we want to be at.”