Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Cross-Country | Women Finish 2nd, Men 4th in Beantown

With several successful meets under their belts, the Georgetown men’s and women’s cross-country teams will travel to Bethlehem, Pa., this weekend to compete in the Lehigh University Paul Short Run.

The invitational meet marks both teams’ final race before the pre-NCAA meet in mid-October, giving the Hoyas one more opportunity to compete against some of the top teams in the country before the season’s first significant race.

The women’s team heads to Bethlehem following a successful showing during the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Boston. last weekend. The Hoyas, ranked fifth, finished second, with 77 points, just 22 points shy of No. 1 University of Michigan. Third-place finishers No. 14 Syracuse University finished 57 points behind the Hoyas in the 21-team competition.

“I think we ran a good race,” Women’s Cross-Country Head Coach Michael Smith said. “We were 20 points [behind] the best team in the country, and I’m thinking in September, that’s a good place to be.”

Senior Katrina Coogan finished fourth overall and was the only Georgetown runner to break into the top 10 of the 5000-meter race with a time of 17:18.0. Following her was senior Andrea Keklak, who placed 11th, finishing 11 seconds behind Coogan.

“All we think about when we race is what can we contribute to our team score to put the best Georgetown team forward,” Coogan said.

EIghteen runners are expected to compete at the Paul Short Run for the Hoyas. Junior Haley Pierce, who has not yet raced in a meet this season due to the preliminary nature of early-season meets, will be one of the top runners present.

“[Pierce is] a strong contributor for us,” Smith said. “She was in our top five at the national meet last year and isa strong prospect.”

Comparatively, the men’s team had a slighterly tougher outing in Boston. Faced with stiff competition, including No. 3 University of Oregon, No. 8 Syracuse University and fellow Big East competitor No. 16 Providence College, and running without many of their top runners, no one from the men’s team was able to land among the top 10 runners. Nevertheless, Georgetown finished in fourth place in the 19-team field behind the strong races of senior John Murray and sophomore Scott Carpenter, who finished in 11th and 12th place of the 8000m race, with matching 24:44.0 times. The team’s collective time of 2:04:29 was exactly two minutes slower than the champion Ducks.

“I know that we have five guys who are capable of running right where John and Scott were,” Men’s Distance Coach Brandon Bonsey said. “Had we done that on that day, that would have been a very good team result.”

Over the last two races, Carpenter has been one of the two top runners for the men’s team. He finished as the fastest runner for the Hoyas during the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational and as the squad’s second-best runner in Boston.

“[Carpenter] put in a really good summer and came back and he’s leading by example,” Bonsey said. “What I was most proud of with him was that on Friday [in Boston], his legs were really tired and he did not feel good the whole race but he gutted out a really good team race.”

The Hoyas will continue to emphasize the importance of running as a team, a key component of success in cross-country.

“Coaches have been stressing that everything we do has to be team-based,” said junior Ahmed Bile, who finished 18th among 182 total racers. “Even if you’re not having a good race, you can still run a great team race.”

Both teams are not particularly affected by the results of the first few races, considering these races as the early part of the process to prepare for the bigger and more important events later in the season, including the upcoming pre-nationals this month on Oct. 18 at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind.

“I think we’ve got a chance to have a great team this fall,” Bonsey said. “If we’re running really well by the Big East, regionals and nationals meets, then no one’s going to really remember that we were fourth in an invitational in September. We’ll be ready to go when it matters.”

The Paul Short Run will employ staggered starts, with 10 runners from each team allowed at any one time. The first 10 runners on the men’s team are scheduled to begin their 8,000m race at 11 a.m., with the additional runners running at 12:15 p.m. The first ten runners of the women’s team will begin their 6,000m race at 11:45 a.m., with the remaining eight Hoyas racing at 1:00 p.m.

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