The Georgetown men’s and women’s cross country team continued their successful season this past weekend, placing in the top 20 of the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Indiana. The men, who placed first and second in their two previous competitions, finished third overall at the LaVern Gibson Course, the only Big East Team to place in the top 15. The women also performed well, finishing in 19th place, one of three Big East teams in the top 20.
The men were led by senior Fleet Hower, who came in first for the Hoyas on Saturday, finishing the 8000 meter course in 23:56, good enough for seventh overall. Assistant Coach Pat Henner saw the race as useful training ground for the upcoming Nationals in November.
“As a team we ran very solid, (but in) some areas we could run much better,” Henner said. “We look at the meet as a learning experience. It’s such a big meet with so many teams from around the country; it teaches you how to relax, something useful when you have an inexperienced team.”
The women finished in their lowest position yet this season, but Head Coach Ron Helmer is not worried.
“We had a great weekend although we performed well below two weeks ago,” Helmer said. “One of the deals is that we have two freshmen, two sophomores and three or four upperclassmen with related experience. We are at the point where we aren’t quite ready, but we’re training well, we’ve got positive attitude so it will work its way out.”
The men and the women look forward to two big competitions before the Nationals in Indiana on Nov. 21: The Big East Championships on Oct. 28 and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship on Nov. 12. The Hoyas are confident about their chances in the upcoming races.
“We’ll go into that race (Big East Championships) more rested and experienced and we have a great shot at winning,” Hower said.
The women also look to improve on their performance in the Pre-Nationals in the Big East Championships.
“Our team performance was a little disappointing considering the expectations we had for ourselves; but overall we came away with a learning experience of how to race at big-time meets,” junior Elizabeth Malloy said. “The women’s team is very young and inexperienced so we are still trying to get our feet under us. We can only improve from here, which we will, and we are looking forward to the Big East Championship race on October 28th.”
