In NCAA cross country, it pays to be cautious about reading too much into early meets. Generally, coaches hold out some of their better runners, rarely do those that do race go at 100 percent effort, and no team is close to peak race shape. That said, it was hard not to take notice of the women’s cross country team as they knocked off traditional powers Princeton and Penn State at the Harry Groves Invitational at Penn State this past Saturday.

With a race plan that called for being assertive, the Hoya women got out well, putting their top six runners in the top 10-15 places by the mile mark. The strategy paid off, as the group held onto their positions to total 28 points and finish as the the top women’s team over second-place Princeton (45 points) and third-place Penn State (59 points).

Sophomore Emily Jones and redshirt senior Renee Tomlin led the way for the Hoyas, finishing first and second overall, respectively. Even though only 2.3 seconds separated their times, their route to the finish couldn’t have been much different.

Jones pulled away from the pack toward the end of the race on a hilly section of the course and was able to simply maintain her pace over the last 600-800 meters and cross the line first in 20:59.2. Tomlin, on the other hand, hung tough behind Princeton’s senior Sarah Cummings and junior Alex Banfich after Jones pulled away and waited until the last 80m to burst ahead of them both and finish in second with a time of 21:01.5.

Women’s Head Coach Chris Miltenberg was especially pleased with how Jones started the season after a disappointing end to her freshman campaign.

“For Emily, I think she’s really at a new level this year than she was a year ago and kind of [at] the level that she came to Georgetown anticipating being and wanting to be,” Miltenberg said. “It’s going to get a lot better than what she did on Saturday.”

Finishing third for the Hoyas was freshman Madeline Chambers, as her 21:06 performance was good enough for fifth place. Showing commendable composure for a true freshman in her first collegiate race, Chambers continued to compete hard even after she had fallen a little behind Tomlin and the Princeton duo.

“[She did] what I really thought she was capable of doing. The first race in college is always a little daunting,” Miltenberg said. “She did an awesome job of hanging tough where she was.”

Rounding out the top five for the Hoyas were sophomores Kirsten Kasper and Rachel Schneider, who showed that they are much improved from a year ago, finishing in eighth and 12th place, respectively.

Finally, junior Katie McCafferty – who looks to be healthy after a series of health problems and injuries – did not finish as well as she would have liked, but showed promise in finishing 15th in just her third race in the last 15 months.

While neither Princeton nor Penn State had their best runners on the course for such an early season meet, neither did the Hoyas. Junior standout Emily Infeld and freshman Joanna Stevens – one of the top recruits of the incoming class – both did a workout at the course this past Saturday instead of racing and are slated to debut at the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 1.

On the men’s side, the relatively inexperienced team had an encouraging debut as well, with a trio of upperclassmen leading the way for the Hoyas. With none of the individuals that ran at NCAA Nationals a year ago on the course this past Saturday, there was uncertainty about whether the Hoyas’ few experienced runners could lead effectively.

Luckily for the Hoyas, senior Ayalew Taye – who had the most cross country racing experience on the young team coming into this season – started the year off on a high note when he finished fourth overall in 25.21.2. Redshirt junior T.C. Lumbar also ran well, finishing eighth overall in 25:31.4.

Redshirt senior Alex Bean is being counted on to be a leader for the first time in his career and he stepped up in similar fashion, running 25:48.2 to finish 11th.

Pat Henner, director of men’s and women’s track and field, was especially encouraged by the trio’s performance.

“I think it’s huge, if those guys aren’t going to go out there and be leaders, [then] we’re just not going to be a good team this year,” Henner said. “You need your seniors to step up and I think they did a really good job of that.”

Redshirt freshman Andrew Springer had a solid debut in his first collegiate cross country race, finishing right behind Bean in 25:52. Rounding out the Hoyas’ top five was redshirt sophomore Will Ahearn, who steadily moved up through the field in the hilly section of the course, finishing in 25:55.6. Ahearn, who redshirted the 2009 season at Texas and transfered to Georgetown last spring, could be a steady contributor for the Blue and Gray this spring.

Perhaps the one disappointment was freshman Tyler Anyan’s debut. The top recruit from the Class of 2014, Anyan did not have the immediate impact on the team as was hoped, finishing 42nd overall and eighth for the Hoyas in 26:40.7.

As a team the Hoyas competed well: Their 52 points came just short of firstplace Princeton’s 48. Nonetheless, for Henner, the season opener answered a lot of questions about the Hoyas’ leadership and showed that there is much potential in the team’s youth.

“For such an inexperienced group, to run as well as they did I was very pleased with the overall effort,” Henner said. “It’s always disappointing to get beat, but at the same time the things I was wondering about I think were answered, and if we can keep improving from here we can be a pretty good team.”

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In NCAA cross country, it pays to be cautious about reading too much into early meets. Generally, coaches hold out some of their better runners, rarely do those that do race go at 100 percent effort, and no team is close to peak race shape. That said, it was hard not to take notice of the women’s cross country team as they knocked off traditional powers Princeton and Penn State at the Harry Groves Invitational at Penn State this past Saturday.

With a race plan that called for being assertive, the Hoya women got out well, putting their top six runners in the top 10-15 places by the mile mark. The strategy paid off, as the group held onto their positions to total 28 points and finish as the the top women’s team over second-place Princeton (45 points) and third-place Penn State (59 points).

Sophomore Emily Jones and redshirt senior Renee Tomlin led the way for the Hoyas, finishing first and second overall, respectively. Even though only 2.3 seconds separated their times, their route to the finish couldn’t have been much different.

Jones pulled away from the pack toward the end of the race on a hilly section of the course and was able to simply maintain her pace over the last 600-800 meters and cross the line first in 20:59.2. Tomlin, on the other hand, hung tough behind Princeton’s senior Sarah Cummings and junior Alex Banfich after Jones pulled away and waited until the last 80m to burst ahead of them both and finish in second with a time of 21:01.5.

Women’s Head Coach Chris Miltenberg was especially pleased with how Jones started the season after a disappointing end to her freshman campaign.

“For Emily, I think she’s really at a new level this year than she was a year ago and kind of [at] the level that she came to Georgetown anticipating being and wanting to be,” Miltenberg said. “It’s going to get a lot better than what she did on Saturday.”

Finishing third for the Hoyas was freshman Madeline Chambers, as her 21:06 performance was good enough for fifth place. Showing commendable composure for a true freshman in her first collegiate race, Chambers continued to compete hard even after she had fallen a little behind Tomlin and the Princeton duo.

“[She did] what I really thought she was capable of doing. The first race in college is always a little daunting,” Miltenberg said. “She did an awesome job of hanging tough where she was.”

Rounding out the top five for the Hoyas were sophomores Kirsten Kasper and Rachel Schneider, who showed that they are much improved from a year ago, finishing in eighth and 12th place, respectively.

Finally, junior Katie McCafferty – who looks to be healthy after a series of health problems and injuries – did not finish as well as she would have liked, but showed promise in finishing 15th in just her third race in the last 15 months.

While neither Princeton nor Penn State had their best runners on the course for such an early season meet, neither did the Hoyas. Junior standout Emily Infeld and freshman Joanna Stevens – one of the top recruits of the incoming class – both did a workout at the course this past Saturday instead of racing and are slated to debut at the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 1.

On the men’s side, the relatively inexperienced team had an encouraging debut as well, with a trio of upperclassmen leading the way for the Hoyas. With none of the individuals that ran at NCAA Nationals a year ago on the course this past Saturday, there was uncertainty about whether the Hoyas’ few experienced runners could lead effectively.

Luckily for the Hoyas, senior Ayalew Taye – who had the most cross country racing experience on the young team coming into this season – started the year off on a high note when he finished fourth overall in 25.21.2. Redshirt junior T.C. Lumbar also ran well, finishing eighth overall in 25:31.4.

Redshirt senior Alex Bean is being counted on to be a leader for the first time in his career and he stepped up in similar fashion, running 25:48.2 to finish 11th.

Pat Henner, director of men’s and women’s track and field, was especially encouraged by the trio’s performance.

“I think it’s huge, if those guys aren’t going to go out there and be leaders, [then] we’re just not going to be a good team this year,” Henner said. “You need your seniors to step up and I think they did a really good job of that.”

Redshirt freshman Andrew Springer had a solid debut in his first collegiate cross country race, finishing right behind Bean in 25:52. Rounding out the Hoyas’ top five was redshirt sophomore Will Ahearn, who steadily moved up through the field in the hilly section of the course, finishing in 25:55.6. Ahearn, who redshirted the 2009 season at Texas and transfered to Georgetown last spring, could be a steady contributor for the Blue and Gray this spring.

Perhaps the one disappointment was freshman Tyler Anyan’s debut. The top recruit from the Class of 2014, Anyan did not have the immediate impact on the team as was hoped, finishing 42nd overall and eighth for the Hoyas in 26:40.7.

As a team the Hoyas competed well: Their 52 points came just short of firstplace Princeton’s 48. Nonetheless, for Henner, the season opener answered a lot of questions about the Hoyas’ leadership and showed that there is much potential in the team’s youth.

“For such an inexperienced group, to run as well as they did I was very pleased with the overall effort,” Henner said. “It’s always disappointing to get beat, but at the same time the things I was wondering about I think were answered, and if we can keep improving from here we can be a pretty good team.”

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