WASHINGTON – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released its first National Coaches' Poll for the 2020-21 season, with the women's squad ranked No. 20 and the men's side tabbing No. 25. Georgetown is the poll's sole BIG EAST representative and only one of 14 schools to feature both men's and women's teams inside the top 30.

Men's Cross Country

• The men's team will benefit from returning juniors Price Owens and Rusty Kujdych, as well as sophomore Shea Weilbaker.
• Last season, Owens placed fifth in the 8K at the BIG EAST Cross Country Championships and turned in strong performances at both the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Cross Country Championships and the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
• Kujdych finished 12th in the 8K at the BIG EAST Cross Country Championship before running the 10K event at both the regional and national NCAA Championships, finishing 26th and 215th, respectively.
• Weilbaker will look to make an impact on the program after finishing 10th at the 2019 BIG EAST Cross Country Championships.
• Also worth noting is the return of Jack Salisbury, who will look to replicate his form from 2018 after redshirting the season in 2019. 2018 saw Salisbury push the Hoyas to their third-consecutive team title at the league's cross country championships, where he placed 31st in the 8K. Individually, Salisbury finished 11th at the BIG EAST Championships in the 8K and 19th at the Mid-Atlantic Regional NCAA Championships in the 10K.
• Transfer students Matt Rizzo (Stanford) and Carter Blunt (UCLA) will be positive additions to the squad, as well as sophomores Parker Stokes, Matthew Payamps and Jantz Tostenson, who sat out last season.

Women's Cross Country

• Key returners on the women's squad include juniors Sami Corman, Alyssa Aldridge and Katherine Modrall along with senior Baylee Jones.
• Corman competed in last year's BIG EAST Cross Country Championships before finishing 10th and recording a personal best in the 6K at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Cross Country Championships. Corman would go on to race in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, placing 142nd.
• Aldridge made an impression at last season's BIG EAST and NCAA Championships. Placing 12th in the 6K at the BIG EAST Championships, she carried that momentum to the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Championships, where she finished 18th and set a new PR in the 6K.  
• Rounding off the junior treble is Modrall, who placed 16th in the 6K at the BIG EAST Championships last season before improving her time by over a minute (21:00.5) at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Championships, ranking 35th.
• Jones is the most experienced out of the returning core of women's runners and boasted a No. 23 finish in the 6K event at last year's NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Championships. Prior to her all-region performance, Jones finished 15th at the league's cross country championships in the same event.
• Chloe Gonzalez, Mary Hennelly and Julia Trethewey will make their collegiate debuts for the Hoyas, along with transfer Charlotte Dannatt from the University of Oxford. Dannatt has enjoyed success on the national stage as a 2020 World University Games Qualifier, a bronze-medal winner in the 5000-meter at the 2019 U23 National Championships, and as the 2020 British Senior National Champion in cross country. 

Though the Hoyas do not have any scheduled competition in the near-term due to COVID restrictions, the team's mix of high-performing returners and competitive newcomers have already caught the attention of coaches across the country.