The GW men’s and women’s cross country teams recorded strong finishes at the annual GW Invitational Saturday, a race that featured some of the nation’s top teams. The women placed fourth overall and the men sixth on a sunny morning at Bull Run Park in Centreville, Va.
No. 2 Georgetown placed first overall in the women’s race with four runners in the top ten. The Hoya women left the invite with a final score of 30, compared to GW’s 148.
The University of Albany claimed the men’s race with 66 points, with No.8 Georgetown close behind in second place (76 points). The Colonial men finished with a total score of 170.
GW head coach Deb Cane called the invite a “traditionally high caliber meet,” as some of the top teams in the meet are likely to qualify for NCAA Nationals. The results of the meet are also a good indication of where the Colonials stand as they prepare for the Atlantic 10 Championship, just over a month away.
Freshman Lindsay Blum led the GW women, placing 15th overall out of 164 runners. She improved on her season personal record with a 19:03.17 finishing time. The men were led by junior Darrell Andruski, who finished second overall out of 153 runners with a time of 25:45.42.
In the women’s race, sophomore Mary Beth McCullough finished second for GW in 19:30.03 (28) while sophomores Emily Jadwin (31st), Erin Patton (37th) and Trina Bolton (55th) rounded out the team’s top five. With their first four runners finishing in the top 40, the women placed fourth out of 16 competing teams.
Senior David Talbird and junior Dave Azari were not far behind Andruski for the men, both finishing in the top 15. Talbird finished close behind Andruski in 26:02.01, earning him fifth place, while Azari placed 11th with a time of 26:16.95.
Cane said both teams were happy with their performances at the invite and recognized the strength of the teams they competed against.
“The teams ran very well at the meet,” Cane said. “Some very strong teams were present and GW performed exceptionally.”
GW races next at the George Mason Invite Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in Fairfax, Va.
