Capturing the eighth men’s team title in conference history, the No. 23 Georgetown men’s cross-country team defended its 2015 Big East championship by seeing four of its student-athletes place in the top 10.

The Hoyas recorded 33 total points, the same as their 2015 total. This title also marks the first time the Hoyas have won back-to-back Big East championships since 1986 and 1987.

Senior Scott Carpenter explained what it meant to the Hoyas to defend its title despite missing key pieces to their team.

“It’s really cool to look at it from a program perspective that we’re good enough to do that,” Carpenter said. “But we kind of have to move on and understand that those guys aren’t going to be part of our competitive team this year. It’s really cool to be able to say we did that without them, but we also need to realize that this is the team we have right now.”

The Georgetown women’s cross-country team finished in third place out of 10 teams. With 68 total points, the Hoyas saw five student-athletes place in the top 25 in the 6-kilometer course.

On the men’s side, Carpenter continued a dominant tournament. He captured second place overall in the 8-km course. Carpenter recorded a time of 24:28.7 while scoring two points for the Hoyas. He finished behind senior Patrick Tiernan from Villanova who won the meet with a time of 24:18.2. Carpenter spoke about his plan going up against Tiernan for the title.

“I’ve been looking forward to it all year,” Carpenter said. “I know that obviously he’s a tremendous athlete. It was cool. I know my individual race plan was to go with him and see what I could do. It may have hurt me in the end a little bit. It was definitely an honor to be able to compete with someone [like him] as, historically throughout the Big East, he’s one of the most dominant runners we’ve ever seen come through.”

Senior Amos Bartelsmeyer claimed the fifth overall spot, crossing the finish line at 24:45.1. Graduate student Michael Clevenger came in right behind Bartelsmeyer in sixth place with a time of 24:49.8. Graduate student Michael Lederhouse rounded out the Hoyas in the top 10, finishing in ninth place and recording a time of 24:59.7. Junior Christian Alvarado continued to prove that he is here to stay, as he was the fifth Hoya to cross the finish line, coming in at 25:05.9 (11th).

Carpenter explained what it meant to see the team come together and run as a unit at the first meet of championship season.

“It’s really nice this year, specifically because we haven’t run really well as a team up until this point,” Carpenter said. “We knew we still had a chance at winning, but based on past results this year we haven’t done our best. So it’s really rewarding for us to come together in the meets that are really important to us and to be able to come out with a championship is huge.”

On the women’s team junior Kennedy Weisner flashed her potential as she led the Hoyas with a  10th place finish and a time of 21:33.9. Weisner spoke about what it meant to her to compete and perform at such a high level.

“I think it’s just about building confidence and having race experiences,” Weisner said. “Just proving to myself that I can run up there with the top girls. It is definitely an experience thing and getting more confident.”

Junior Autumn Eastman followed Weisner as she captured 11th place with a time of 21:45.2. Sophomore transfer Josette Norris continued her impressive start as a Hoya by claiming 12th place, running a time of 21:49.5.

Weisner also spoke about how her teammates pushed and motivated each other throughout the course of the race.

“I think even with [junior] Piper [Donaghu] and [freshman] Paige [Hofstad] too, we were all like in a group at the beginning just like you saw a different Hoya at different parts of the race and that just kind of helps to keep you focused to remember to keep moving forward and to try to stick with teammates as best as you can,” Weisner said.

Hofstad enjoyed a successful championship meet debut, as she crossed the finish line at 21:52.4. Her performance was good enough for 14th place.

“I think [Hofstad] is very talented, and I think she’s a great addition to the team,” Weisner said. “She’s just another person in our pack and it’s great to have her.”

Junior Piper Donaghu ran a time of 22:05.0, and she came in 21st place, rounding out the top five for the Hoyas.

Both the No. 23 Georgetown men’s and women’s cross-country teams will regroup and run at the 2016 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships on Nov. 11.