Georgetown’s cross country teams kicked off their seasons this weekend, racing at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational last Friday, Sept. 7. Both teams came in off the gun with regional and national recognition. The women’s team was recently ranked No. 25 in the country by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, while the men’s team was placed at No. 30, and both teams were grouped as No. 3 in the mid-atlantic region for their division.
The women’s team came in third place with 73 points, after Penn State and Syracuse. Despite successfully finishing in the top three, the Hoyas dropped behind Syracuse who they beat out at last year’s Spiked Shoe Invitation to come in 2nd place. As opposed to the 2017 Spiked Shoe when six Hoyas finished in the top 20, only four made the cut this year, including junior Margie Cullen who jumped from 15th place last year to 13th place on Friday and raced 16 seconds faster. Junior Paige Hofstad, freshman Katherine Modrall, and freshman Katie Dammer, who finished in 3rd, 8th, and 17th place, respectively, also helped lead Georgetown to a top three victory.
The women’s cross country team is boasting with new runners that will be key to the team’s success this season and throughout their time at Georgetown. Both Modrall and Dammer are freshmen, and they have clearly distinguished themselves right off the bat. Alyssa Aldridge, another freshman who finished in 32nd place behind Dammer, will also be an important runner to watch as the season progresses.
While the women’s team dropped only one spot from the 2017 to the 2018 at Spiked Shoe, the men’s team dropped two spots, finishing the race in 5th place with a total of 128 points. They finished behind Penn State and Syracuse, both of whom beat the Hoyas at the 2017 Spiked Shoe, as well as St. Joseph’s and Navy, who did not race last year. Sophomore Ty Brownlow was Georgetown’s only runner that finished in the top 20, coming in 16th place, although junior Eion Nohilly and junior Joshua Bell also led the team and finished closely behind Brownlow in 22nd and 23rd place. Despite a mediocre performance on Friday, Georgetown is just warming up and has plenty of time to rest and practice before their next meet in three weeks.
Both Georgetown teams will be racing next on Friday, Sept. 28th at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for more updates on the various fall sports at Georgetown.
