Harry Groves Spiked Shoe XC Invitational

[Nevada Hoya]

The men and women start off the cross country season at Penn State in the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Cross country meet tomorrow (Saturday). The first meet of the season is always exciting to find out who will be running, who is in shape, who will be redshirting. The men could form two teams of seven runners, if everybody ran. They are that deep. The upper classmen, Jon Green, Amos Bartelsmeyer, Michael Lederhouse, Darren Fahy, and Scott Carpenter should be leading the A team. Sometimes the top runners rest or run a tempo run in the first meet. However, this year there are only three meets before the championship season (BE, Regionals, NCAA), so we might run a full squad. Since some of the meets for the men will be run over 10K, it will be harder for the recruits on the men's side to adjust to the increased distance, as in HS the cross country meets are usually run over 5K. The women go from 5K to 6K from HS to championship meets, so the adjustment will not be so difficult. Leading the women should be Piper Donaghu, Autumn Eastman, Haley Pierce, and Audrey Belf. There are some talented freshmen, so they might be ready right away to help out.

www.thehoya.com/fall-sports-preview-cross-country-hoyas-look-to-continue-dominance/

[Nevada Hoya]

From U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA)

NEW ORLEANS — Cross country is back in full force and with the earlier countable period, teams are extra vigilant about when and where they compete early in the season.

The countable period usually started in late September, but this year it was moved up to early September in order to increase the competitive nature of these early-season meets.

It appears to have paid off if you take a gander at the start lists for the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational, hosted by Penn State on Saturday.

On the men’s side, top-ranked Syracuse goes up against No. 7 Georgetown and No. 11 Oklahoma State, among others.

Looking at the women’s race, eighth-ranked Oklahoma State squares off with the 13th-ranked Nittany Lions, No. 15 Syracuse and No. 19 Georgetown.

Breaking down the men’s race further, it’s possible that we could see as many as 15 competitors from NCAAs last year toe the line.

The Orange could bring four members of its championship team (Colin Bennie, Philo Germano, Joel Hubbard and Justyn Knight) as well as two transfers (Iliass Aouani from Lamar and Adam Visokay from Virginia). The Hoyas welcome back all seven runners from NCAAs (Christian Alvarado, Amos Bartelsmeyer, Ahmed Bile, Scott Cartpenter, Darren Fahy, Jonathan Green and Michael Lederhouse), while the Cowboys have three returners (Cerake Geberkidane, Brigham Hedges and Joshua Thompson).

Bennie won last year’s individual title on his way to a breakout season and Michigan took the team title over eventual national champion Syracuse.

We could see as many as 22 athletes from the women’s race at NCAAs last year on Saturday in State College, Pennsylvania.

The Cowgirls return their entire roster from their 7th-place team finish (Natalie Baker, Anna Boyert, Aurora Dybedokken, Kaela Edwards, Abbie Hetherington, Ingeborg Loevnes and Molly Sughroue). Six of Penn State’s runners return to the fold (Stephanie Aldrich, Tessa Barrett, Elizabeth Chikotas, Jillian Hunsberger, Julie Kocjancic and Greta Lindsley). We could see as many as six Hoyas from last year (Audrey Belf, Piper Donaghu, Autumn Eastman, Haley Pierce and Kennedy Weisner) in addition to four from Syracuse (Stephanie Bitcon, Sydney Leiher, Mary Malone and Rebecca Skodis).

There will be a new individual champion crowned in the women’s race as Penn State’s Tori Gerlach exhausted her eligibility. The Nittany Lions are also looking to win their fifth consecutive meet title, a streak that dates back to 2012.

[Nevada Hoya]

One error in the above preview: Ahmed Bile will no longer be running for the Hoyas.

[Nevada Hoya]

Surprisingly the women did better than the men in the meet today. Don't have all the placings but we know the following:

Syracuse's 19 points claimed the meet by a wide margin over second place Cornell (67). Georgetown (90), Lehigh (125), Penn State (146), St. Joseph's (157), Rutgers (175), Princeton (211) and Grove City (273) made up the team scores for the men.


Penn State claimed the overall women's win with 37 points, followed by Georgetown's 55, ahead of Syracuse's 67. Behind SU came Cornell (73), West Virginia (147), Rutgers (169), St. Joseph's (183), Grove City (256) and Messiah (268).

[Nevada Hoya]

A little more information. As is usual the case with early season meets, the Hoyas sat a bunch of important contributors:

Georgetown Track XC ‏@hoyastrackxc

The Hoya men finished 3rd at Penn State while sitting 6 key contributors. Alvarado, Crozier and Brown ran great!

Georgetown Track XC ‏@hoyastrackxc
Great start for the Hoya Women at Penn State! Strong 2nd place finish while sitting 3 great athletes. Great things to come from this group!

[Nevada Hoya]

Men’s Individual Results: Pl. Name, Time (Points)
4. Christian Alvarado, 26:31.6 (4)
8. Mike Crozier, 26:43.6 (8)
12. Spencer Brown, 26:54.7 (12)
31. Connor Sheryak, 27:40.2 (31)
35. James Burke, 27:51.1 (35)
37. Reilly Bloomer, 27:53.9 (only top five score points)
44. Henry Smithers, 27:59.1 (only top five score points)

This was essentially our B team,except for maybe Christian. Spencer Brown, usually a middle distance runner, did well. I expected Connor to do a little better.

[Nevada Hoya]

6. Autumn Eastman, 21:17 (6)
7. Madeline Perez, 21:21 (7)
12. Paige Hofstad, 21:40 (12)
13. Audrey Belf, 21:40 (13)
17. Piper Donaghu, 21:48 (17)
21. Meagan Doody, 22:07 (only top five score points)
29. Margie Cullen, 22:50 (only top five score points)

Good to see the freshmen running so well - Paige, Meagan, and Margie.

[reformation]

Looked like a good outing for all. I wonder what the story is re potential new coach for the program--not concerned re the competition near term , though I could see it affecting recruiting which I'm sure starts in earnest very shortly.

[Nevada Hoya]

Georgetown keeps these things close to the vest, as we all know. Tough time for a coaching change, at the beginning of the season. Would GU bring back Pat Henner; would he even contemplate that. In the interim, Coach Gags? Although Hoya great Dr. Jack Reilly said that Coach Gags is going out to Oregon to coach. He had been coaching the NY/NJ team with another Hoya great John Trautman. Would John take the job?

[Nevada Hoya]

The first regional polls of the year (last week was pre-season) had the Hoyas remaining one on the men's side and two on the women's side (behind Penn State). Next race I believe the whole squad will run.

[sleepyjackson21]

Nice to see Madeline Perez run well. She has had her fill of injuries.

[Nevada Hoya]

In the National poll released today, the men stay the same at #7, while the women moved up a place to #18.