The women’s and men’s cross country teams found success in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Friday afternoon following impressive performances at the A-10 Championships last month.
The women’s team finished in 11th place in the 6K, and the men finished in 10th place in the 10K at the regional meet this weekend after GW women’s and men’s placed second and fifth, respectively, in their A-10 Championship races last month. The regional race also marks the end of both team’s 2023 seasons before they pick it back up in 2024.
Following their solid showing at the A-10 Championships, the women’s cross country team’s 2023 season ended following the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional competition in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, finishing in 11th place out of the 27 teams competing.
The women finished the 6K race, with a score of 343, while crosstown rival Georgetown earned a combined score of 48, taking first place in the event for the second season in a row.
The women’s team collected five new personal record times in the 6K event Friday, with the biggest standout being sophomore Sarah Mitchell, who paced the Revs with a personal record of 20:51.1. Mitchell’s time is the sixth fastest in program history and resulted in her individual placement in 32nd place in the race. Following Mitchell was freshman Julia Shanes, who marked a PR of 21:16.1, finishing 57th as an individual and earning the 10th-fastest time in GW history.
Sophomore Una Boylan made a PR time of 21:30.8 and placed 75th, and freshman Lola Dinneen placed 82nd with a PR time of 21:36.5. Senior Catherine Ruffino set a PR time of 22:48.1 and placed 150th, and Junior Olivia Syftestad came in 103rd with a time of 21:56.7.
The men’s cross country team kicked off their race at 1 p.m. in Bethlehem, competing in the 10K race. The Revs finished 10th out of 26 competing schools, with Princeton winning the team title with a score of 41, compared to GW’s team score of 339.
Sophomore Jacob Heredia led the GW pack in the regional race with his record-breaking pace of 30:49.5. Just milliseconds ahead of the previous record, held by graduate student Ryan Fowkes, who paced a 30:49.9 10K during the 2022 season. Close behind Heredia was sophomore Austin Brotemarkle, who came in at 31:00.3. Brotemarkle’s time is the third-fastest time in GW program history, putting him in 49th place overall out of the 187 runners.
Another race for the record books is junior Kevin Conlon, who earned his new personal best of 31:21:0, finishing 68th in the race and earning the sixth-fastest time in GW history. Senior Lucas Brown finished with a time of 31:44.6 and Fowkes came in shortly after that at 31:57.8. Rounding out the Rev finishers was junior Pierce Kapustka, recording a time of 32:43.7.
