Welcome to ‘Hoyas of the Week,’ where we take a look at some outstanding performances in the past week across all of Georgetown’s athletic programs.
Francesca Whitehurst – Women’s Lacrosse
Whitehurst, a senior, has been a force for the women’s lacrosse team all season long, leading the team in scoring from the midfield. This week, she concluded her home regular season career with two strong performances against No. 2 Maryland and Old Dominion. Against the Terps on Wednesday evening, Whitehurst helped the Hoyas jump out to an early lead, scoring off a feed from senior attacker Taylor Gebhardt and then assisting on freshman attacker Ali Diamond’s goal as part of a 3-0 run to keep the visitors at bay after they had pulled within one. Though Maryland would dominate the second half to record a comeback victory, Whitehurst came back with a masterful performance on Senior Day against Old Dominion. Whitehurst scored her 27th goal of the season early before dishing two assists as part of an early Hoya spurt, and then bookended halftime with goals 14 seconds before the end of the first half and 19 seconds after the beginning of the second to put the game out of reach. Whitehurst finished with four goals and three assists as the Hoyas rolled, 18-4.
Kyle Ruedisili – Baseball
When the struggling Hoya baseball team has needed offense this year, graduate student outfielder Ruedisili has often delivered. This weekend, Ruedisili, who leads the Blue and Gray in home runs and RBI, helped the Hoyas off to two hot starts as they gained their first series sweep of 2019 in a Saturday doubleheader against Rider.
In the first game against the Broncs, the Jupiter, FL native led off with a double and scored a batter later, and added a two-run double in the second inning as Georgetown raced out to an 8-0 lead before winning 12-7. Ruedisili one-upped his leadoff attempt from the series opener in the second game, going yard off of sophomore Joe Papeo to kick things off. He would draw a crucial walk and come around to score the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh as the Hoyas edged Rider, 10-9. Ruedisili has crushed seven homers and driven in 23 runs on the year.
Christina Parsells – Women’s Golf
This week, the women’s golf squad competed in the Big East Championships in Callawassie, SC. Parsells, a senior, capped an outstanding career that included All-Big East selections in each of her three season on the Hilltop with a third-place finish at Callawassie Island Golf Club. Though the Hoyas could not defend their back-to-back conference titles this weekend, Parsells helped them edge third-place Seton Hall, who finished two strokes behind. Tied for fourth after two rounds, Parsells turned it on on Sunday, shooting 75 to move into third place as she carded a one-under on the back nine. Parsells finished second on the Hoyas in stroke average in 2018-19.
Josette Norris – Cross Country/Track
At the Larry Ellis Invitational hosted by Princeton University, graduate student Norris turned in a standout performance for the women’s outdoor track team. Competing in Princeton, the Tenafly, NJ native ran a 4:13.77 in the 1,500 meter run, a full ten seconds better than her previous best time, to finish third overall in the race. Norris will look to build momentum off of the performance as the Hoyas travel to Philadelphia for the Penn Relays this weekend.
