For a women’s cross country team with a championship streak longer than any other school ever, this season brought more of the same for Georgetown’s runners. Coming off their first place finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Championships, the Georgetown women’s cross country team placed third in the NCAA Championship meet on Nov. 19 in South Carolina.
The finish was the best for Georgetown since the Hoyas placed third at NCAAs in 1993. Their performance however, marks the 14th year in a row that Georgetown has finished in the top 10 nationally. No other school in the country has a top 10 streak that spans 10 years.
“That gives an idea of the history and expectations we have and the girls understand that,” Head Coach Ron Helmer said. “It means a lot that we can keep that streak alive.”
The Hoyas had not been beaten all season going into the NCAA championship meet. The pre-championship race in October was randomly split in to two groups, and Georgetown, simply by chance, did not run against No. 1 Stanford or No. 2 Brigham Young. Georgetown had been ranked third for a month previous to the championship race.
“[The ranking] felt accurate. I felt like we would run well and handle the national meet anxiety well, and I knew if we ran like we had been, that we would bring home a trophy,” Helmer said.
“The size of the trophy would depend on how we ran, as well as how the other teams ran,” Helmer said. “We are happy with third.”
Junior Jill Laurendeau turned in the top finish for the Hoyas, coming in 14th place with a time of 21:02 and earning All-American Honors.
Others scoring points with impressive times for the Hoyas were junior Marni Kruppa with a time of 21:27 and junior Erin Sicher, who finished in 21:33. Sophomore Amanda Pape (46th) and sophomore Nicole Lee (84th) comprised the rest of the point scorers for Georgetown.
“Jill Laurendeau had a great race,” Helmer said. “Erin and Amanda also had great races; I am happiest with them; they finished closest to our expectations.”
Brigham Young won the NCAA crown, while the University of North Carolina took second place. Arizona placed fourth after Georgetown, but Arizona runner Tara Chaplin broke the course record by two seconds and took the women’s national title. Stanford, which was ranked No. 1 going into the championship meet, placed fifth.
The Hoyas’ indoor track season kicks off on Saturday, Dec. 8 at the Navy Invitational in Annapolis, Md.
