WASHINGTON – For the second time this calendar year, the Georgetown women and the Hoya men finished 18th and 22nd, respectively, at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. A mere eight months since the last NCAA Championships, the No. 22 women finished better than their ranking by placing 18th at the national meet with 464 points. The No. 25 men also bested their ranking by placing 22nd at the meet, tallying 566 points at the Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida.
 
ON THE RECORD  WITH DIRECTOR OF TRACK & FIELD / CROSS COUNTRY ALTON McKENZIE
"I believe our 18th-place finish on the women's side and 22nd-place showing on the men's side speaks to the consistency of the Georgetown cross country program. With COVID moving the 2020 championships to March of this year, we were able to finish 18th and 22nd in a shortened season. And now, with all teams running at full capacity, including our own, we once again were right there with the country's most elite programs. Today showed us that the hard work and the high level of competition we have chosen to face during the regular season is working and that both programs continue to compete at the highest levels nationally. I look forward to this momentum created during the cross country season to carry over to the beginning of the indoor season and set the tone for the entire year. I'm proud of each and every person on this team."
 
ON THE RECORD WITH WOMEN'S DISTANCE COACH MITCHELL BAKER
"This team has been through a lot this fall, both the travel squad and their teammates back at home. I'm more proud of how they've supported each other and what they've been overcoming in their personal lives than any of their racing efforts. The results - the BIG EAST and regional wins and today's NCAA 18th-place finish - are as much about their athletic ability as their ability to race for each other despite and because of those personal challenges. It's been a huge season for the mentality of the athletes in the program, believing that we can be an elite program and simply finding a way to get the job done. Today's race was solid, but we all believe there was more there. The intensity of the environment cannot be replicated outside of this meet, so we're going to learn as much as possible to be more ready next year. Donahue repeating as an All-American and Corman just missing are huge races against possibly the deepest field ever assembled. We celebrate those individual finishes and the efforts of all the racers, today's alternates and the women at home who helped get us here. We're back-to-back BIG EAST champions and top-20 NCAA finishers because of every athlete in the program and it will take everyone learning from this season to take the program up another level. I believe we have the athletes and mentality to make that happen."
 
HOYA WOMEN FINISH 18TH AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS (18th of 31, 464 points) - 6,000 METERS

• Maggie Donahue once again showed her grit at the most elite level of competition. Through 2,000 meters Donahue was in 77th place but from that point on, she was in the business of chasing people down and picking off runners left and right. After moving up 23 spots in the next 1,000 meters, she ran down another eight runners every 1,000 meters through the end.
• In total, Donahue moved up 47 spots to finish 30th as she clocked 19:51.3. She split 3:12.9 over the final 1,000 meters to secure an All-America performance.
• Sami Corman was the second Hoya to cross the finish line as she finished 44th overall with a time of 20:01.0. The duo of Donahue and Corman has been consistent through the entirety of the season.
• Baylee Jones (132nd), Chloe Scrimgeour (158) and Kiera Bothwell (207) were the final three point scorers for the Hoyas, marking the same five point scorers from the regional meet.
• GU Results: 30. Maggie Donahue, 19:51.3 (24) *; 44. Sami Corman, 20:01.0 (35); 132. Baylee Jones, 20:40.7 (106); 158. Chloe Scrimgeour, 20:50.6 (126); 207. Kiera Bothwell, 21:17.2 (173); 219. Chloe Gonzalez, 21:24.1; 225. Katie Dammer, 21:36.7
• Team Results: 1. NC State, 84; 2. BYU, 122; 3. New Mexico, 130; 4. Colorado, 187; 5. Notre Dame, 215; 6. Stanford, 233; 7. Minnesota, 233; 8. Arkansas, 328; 9. Iowa State, 332; 10. Ole Miss, 350; 11. Washington, 366; 12. Wisconsin, 376; 13. Oklahoma State, 404; 14. North Carolina, 405; 15. Alabama, 428; 16. Michigan State, 438; 17. Colorado State, 455; 18. Georgetown, 464; 19. Florida State, 468; 20. Utah, 483; 21. West Virginia, 489; 22. Michigan, 500; 23. Northern Arizona, 532; 24. Oregon, 534; 25. Harvard, 541; 26. Providence, 594; 27. Villanova, 605; 28. Utah State, 638; 29. Butler, 660; 30. Syracuse, 768; 31. Rice, 811

 
ON THE RECORD WITH HEAD MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY COACH BRANDON BONSEY
"Every opportunity to compete at an NCAA Championship is a privilege. I wish we had taken better advantage of that opportunity today but overall I'm proud of the season the men put together. I know we are better than the 22nd-best team in the country and it's unfortunate we didn't show that today. We will have one of the best track teams in the NCAA so our focus now turns to that."
 
GEORGETOWN MEN PLACE 22ND AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS (22nd of 31, 566 points) - 10,000 METERS

• Shea Weilbaker was the top finisher for the Hoyas as he clocked 30:06.8 over the 10,000-meter race.
• Following close behind Weilbaker was Matthew Young, who moved back toward the top of GU's point scorers as he clocked 30:13.4 to finish 107.
• Jack Salisbury, Sean Laidlaw and Parker Stokes were the final three point scorers for the Blue & Gray with just a 5.6-second spread over the final two point scorers.
• GU Results: 91. Shea Weilbaker, 30:06.8 (79); 107. Matthew Young, 30:13.4 (92); 135. Jack Salisbury, 30:29.6 (115); 164. Sean Laidlaw, 30:42.0 (138); 169. Parker Stokes, 30:47.6 (142); 210. Quinn Nicholson, 31:22.5; 216. Camden Gilmore, 31:32.3
• Team Results: 1. Northern Arizona, 92; 2. Iowa State, 137; 3. Oklahoma State, 186; 4. Arkansas, 195; 5. Stanford, 236; 6. Tulsa, 237; 7. BYU, 246; 8. Colorado, 249; 9. Notre Dame, 290; 10. Wake Forest, 356; 11. Wisconsin, 361; 12. Harvard, 364; 13. Washington, 373; 14. Texas, 393; 15. Ole Miss, 395; 16. Portland, 430; 17. Air Force, 453; 18. North Carolina, 460; 19. Syracuse, 485; 20. Florida State, 517; 21. Minnesota, 518; 22. Georgetown, 566; 23. Princeton, 567; 24. Southern Utah, 573; 25. Michigan, 588; 26. Gonzaga, 612; 27. Alabama, 640; 28. Butler, 643; 29. Oregon, 655; 30. Michigan State, 681; 31. Furman, 688

 
* denotes All-American performance (1-40)