The College's men's and women's cross-country teams tested themselves against top talent at the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University last Saturday.
Georgetown University captured both ends of the competition.
The Hoya women, ranked 10th in Division I (DI), posted 28 points to best the 32-team field of Division I, Division II (DII) and Division III (DIII) programs.
The Georgetown University men scored 31 points to place first of the 33 teams competing in the all-division race.
Women's Cross Country
The women, ranked 15th in DIII, scored 466 points to finish in 17th place, among the top DIII teams in the competition. The men, ranked 13th in DIII, took 15th place overall, with a score of 427.
"The meet gave us the chance to run against top DI programs," Head Coach Steve Dolan said. "We had a good performance, and came out in the middle of the field of outstanding competition."
Senior Beth Vesey led the Lions with a 19th place finish and a time of 21:39 on the 6,000 meter course.
"Beth had a great finish," Dolan said. "This was as good as I have seen her run in college."
Seniors Lindsay Scarborough and Erin Cahill posted a time of 22:43 to take 79th place and 22:50 to finish 86th, respectfully.
"This was our first big meet," Cahill said. "A lot of underclassmen stepped up."
Freshmen Christine Nystrom and Jenna Fasulo and sophomore Kara Horner helped the Lions stay in pace with the competition.
Nystrom took 125th place, Horner finished in 158th place and Fasulo picked up 167th place in the race.
"It was the first time running this race for a lot of girls, and they did really well," Vesey said. "It is the middle of the season, and this race shows us where we stand."
Men's Cross Country
The men competed without top runner, senior Adrian Cline, who stayed out of the race because a heel injury.
But without Cline, who broke the record at the Connecticut College Invitational earlier in the season, the Lions still managed to run a strong race, Dolan said.
Dolan highlighted junior Brian Donavan's performance.
Donovan took 42nd place in the 8,000 meter race, with a time of 25:23. Senior Brian Brach finished in 55th place and posted a time of 25:32.
"Our whole top seven really stepped up," Donovan said.
Junior Sean Lesniak finished 98th by running 26:02, and freshman Marc Altenau took 111th in 26:13.
Juniors Joe Lacovara-Switzer and Chris Burns finished back-to-back in 122nd and 123rd in times of 26:19 and 26:20, respectively.
"It was a good competition," Dolan said. "We like to give ourselves a test in the middle of the season, and I think that is exactly what we got."
Upcoming Meet
The Lions will compete next at the Lafayette College Invitational on Oct. 18.
