Georgetown’s cross country teams left the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships with bittersweet success, dominating the course and finishing strong, regardless of the cold and rain. In what was many of the Hoyas’ final race of the 2018 season, Georgetown returned to State College, Pennsylvania, for a third time to show immense improvement and end the season on a high note. Despite their phenomenal performances on Friday, Nov. 9, only a select few runners will be advancing to the NCAA Championships this Saturday, including sophomore Nick Wareham and junior Jack van Scoter.
The women’s team placed 7th of 30 teams, finishing with a total of 236 points. Unsurprisingly, junior Paige Hofstad led the team, coming in 16th place overall, followed by junior Margie Cullen just 12 seconds later. Both Hofstad and Cullen finished in the top 10 at the Big East Championships, leading the women’s team to a second place overall finish. They were looking to build on that success in the regional championships, but they were not quite able to keep that momentum going.
No runners from the women’s team will be advancing to the championships. However, they finished on a great note, most of them crossing the finish line in pairs not too far apart. After Hofstad and Cullen, freshmen Sami Corman and Katie Dammer ended their first seasons just 13 seconds apart, coming in 49th and 62nd place, with junior Meg Mathison trailing Dammer. Even though senior Kayla Grahn and freshman Katherine Modrall did not contribute to the team’s overall score, they finished together, crossing the line within 8 seconds of each other as Grahn led the way.
The men’s team finished in 3rd place, defeating 21 other teams with a final score of 97 points. Wareham ran an incredible race, finishing 2nd overall, just three seconds behind the first place runner from Villanova. Van Scoter was also victorious with his 6th place finish, trailing Wareham by six seconds. Not only did Wareham and Van Scoter set the team up for huge success in the overall race, scoring a combined 8 points and leaving plenty of room for their teammates’ to breathe, but they also solidified their invitations to represent Georgetown and run in the NCAA Championship race this upcoming weekend.
While Wareham and Van Scoter have consistently led the team in one of the fastest three positions since the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitation in late September, the rest of the men’s lineup has changed every race. In their final race of 2018, juniors Matthew Bouthillette and Jack Salisbury ended their seasons in the top 20 as well, finishing in 15th and 19th place, respectively, followed by freshman Rusty Kujdych in 55th place.
Georgetown’s cross country season has come to a close for all runners except Wareham and Van Scoter, who will race in the NCAA Championships in Madison, Wisconsin, on Nov. 17. The gun for the men’s race will go off at 12:45 p.m. For more coverage of Georgetown athletic programs, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
