Last Monday, the Georgetown men’s and women’s cross country teams stamped the end to a successful season by competing in the NCAA Championships.
Both teams have been ranked in national cross-country polls throughout the season. Their efforts earned them the opportunity to showcase their talents at the National meet.
The final tournament took place at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind. In the men’s 10K race, the Hoyas came in 16th out of 31 teams with 440 points. The University of Wisconsin won the meet with a spectacular 37 points.
Senior Fleet Hower led the Hoyas with a time of 30:17. Hower’s 26th-place finish earned him his first All-American award.
Sophomore Daniel Nunn (30:57) and senior Charlie Millioen (30:58) came in together in 72nd and 73rd place respectively. Sophomore Matt DeBole’s finish placed him 131st. And freshman Michael Krisch crossed the line in 138th place.
The women Hoyas finished with 613 points for 27th place. Stanford amassed 146 points on the 6K course for first place.
Sophomore Maggie Infeld (21:11) was the Hoyas’ top finisher in 75th place. Junior Elizabeth Maloy crossed the finish in 21:32 for 110th place. Senior Erin Henry and Freshman Lise Ogrodnick made up the middle of the Hoya pack, placing 125th and 135th respectively. The Hoyas finished up their top-five scorers with sophomore Joanna Rodgers finishing at 165th.
This year the men earned an automatic bid to the Championships after their impressive first-place finish at the Mid-Atlantic Regional. This final meet marked their seventh-straight appearance in the NCAA Championship. In 1965 the men earned their best finish at fourth. They also have eight top-10 finishes in their 24 appearances.
The women entered Nationals with an at-large bid after they just missed earning an automatic bid by finishing third at the Regional meet. It was the women’s 19th showing at Nationals. Before missing going to the meet last year, the women had made it 16 straight seasons. They have finished third three times out of their 15 top-10 finishes.
To go along with their postseason performances, the men posted several top-three runners in their meets this season. The women started the year with three third place finishes, while the men got out of the blocks with two first-place finishes.
The Hoyas now look ahead to the indoor track season where their first action will take place at the Navy Invitational on Friday, Dec. 2.
