Oct. 2, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Georgetown University cross country team will split sites this weekend as the men travel to Notre Dame, Ind. to compete in the Notre Dame Invitational to be held on the university's nine-hole Notre Dame Golf Course on Friday with a 5 p.m. start. The women will not have nearly as far to travel this weekend as they will run at Bull Run Park in Centreville, Va. at the Mason Invitational, hosted by George Mason University on Saturday morning.

In the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association national rankings, the Georgetown men moved up one to the ninth spot and maintained its regional ranking of No. 1 in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The men will compete in the Blue Division of the Notre Dame Invitational against six other teams ranked nationally in the top 30 - two of them are BIG EAST Conference rivals in No. 19 Providence (Northeast-2) and No. 27 Notre Dame (Great Lakes-5). Also among the top 30 are No. 8 Michigan (Great Lakes-1), No. 26 Florida State (South-3), No. 28 Texas A&M (South Central-2) and No. 29 New Mexico (Mountain-4).

"Our goal in this meet is to work on a racing strategy that will work well for us during the championship phase of the season," Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Patrick Henner said. "I feel that if we follow our strategy, we will be a very competitive squad with some of the best teams this weekend at the Notre Dame Invitational."

The men will travel seniors Andrew Bumbalough (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood Academy), Levi Miller (Belfast, Maine/Belfast Area), Justin Scheid (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXII), Mike Krisch (Hopkins, Minn./Hopkins), Michael Banks (Holden, Mass./Wachusett Regional), Alex Mason (Scottsdale, Ariz./Brophy Prep) and Brandon Bonsey (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth), sophomore James Grimes (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) and graduate student Liam Boylan-Pett (Bath, Mich.) to Notre Dame. In the one event that Georgetown has competed in prior to this weekend, Miller broke a course record at the New Market Battlefield in Harrisonburg, Va. at the JMU Invitational - the course record was set in 2006 by former Hoya All-American and cross country standout Matt Debole. Miller was the first of six Hoya student-athletes to cross the finish line in that race.

The women, ranked 22nd nationally and third in the Mid-Atlantic by USTFCCCA, will compete at Bull Run Park in Centreville, Va. this weekend.

"This meet is a great gauge for the progress we've made in our training over the past three weeks since Princeton," Head Women's Cross Country Coach Chris Miltenberg said. "This meet is beneficial because we can run against some solid competition without the drain of traveling."

Competing this weekend will be seniors Kailin Collins (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield), Natasha LaBeaud (Folsom, Calif./Folsom), Avril Ogrodnick (Beaconsfield, Quebec/Beaconsfield) and Lise Ogrodnick (Beaconsfield, Quebec/Beaconsfield),and juniors Lauren Gregory (Denville, N.J./Morris Knolls) and Marcie Sobrinski (Treichlers, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic). It is still uncertain if freshmen Emily Infeld (University Heights, Ohio/Beaumont) and Katie McCafferty (Convent Station, N.J./Oak Knoll) will compete.

"Katie McCafferty and Emily Infeld are making phenomenal progress for freshmen and I want to be cautious not to over-race them just yet," said Miltenberg.

Running unattached as redshirts will be senior Maggie Infeld (University Heights, Ohio/Beaumont), junior Renee Tomlin (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) and freshmen Laura Borduin (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge) and Kelly McEldrew (Philadelphia, Pa./Gwynedd-Mercy Academy).

Graduate student Elizabeth Maloy (Loudonville, N.Y./Academy of Holy Names) will continue to train and open up her season at the Pre-Nationals in two weeks.

At the Princeton Invitational, LaBeaud was the first Hoya to cross the finish line as she took fourth place at the Old Nassau Run held on Princeton's campus.