The men's and women's cross country teams, both ranked seventh in the latest national cross country polls, both finished third at the George Washington University Invitational, held on September 29, at Bull Run Regional Park in Centerville, Va.
Miami won the men's side of the meet with 36 points, followed by Virginia in second with 46 points. Georgetown took third with 117 points, Seton Hall was fourth with 154, and George Washington was fifth with 154.
Virginia won the women's competition with 15 points. James Madison took second place with 76 points, followed by the Hoyas in third place with 98 points. Syracuse was fourth with 132 points, and Richmond rounded out the top five with 135.
Sophomore Dylan Welsh (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs Senior) was the Hoyas' top finisher at the meet that fielded 19 teams. Welsh covered the 8K course in 25:54.36 to claim 11th place. Junior Chris Miltenberg (East Northport, N.Y./John Glenn) and senior Brad Stapleton (Bellevue, Wash./Newport) ran 23rd and 24th with times of 26:20.08 and 26:26.26, respectively. Freshman Brad Barker (Omaha, Neb./Westside) and sophomore George O'Loughlin (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) were the other two point scorers for the Hoyas. Barker was 32nd (26:31.57), while O'Loughlin earned 34th place (26:35.54).
Bobby Thiele of the University of Virginia won the race in 24:44.34.
Junior Tyrona Heath (Endicott, N.Y./Union-Endicott) was the first GU runner to cross the finish line of the women's 5K course. Heath's time of 18:47.83 was good for eighth place. Freshman Rose Wetzel's (Seattle, Wash./Blanchet) time of 19:02.62 earned her 15th place in the race. Rounding out the point scorers were freshman Treniere Clement (Stow, Ohio/Stow-Monroe Falls) and seniors Erin Flynn (Milton, Mass./Milton) and Emily Dent (Jacksonville, Fla./The Bolles School). Clement ran 19:24.42 for 23rd place; Flynn clocked 19:29.28 for the 25th spot; and Dent's mark of 19:32.97 took 27th place.
Fifteen schools participated in the women's competition. Virginia's Sarah Folse won the race in 17:44.88.
