Hokie ClubPRINCETON, N.J. – Virginia Tech cross country runner Thomas Curtin finished in second place at the Princeton Inter-regional Invitational held Saturday on the Tigers’ home course in Princeton, New Jersey.
Curtin ran the 8K course in a time of 24 minutes, 5.6 seconds and finished more than 30 seconds behind runaway winner Shaun Thompson of Duke. Thompson ran the course in a time of 23:34.9.
Led by Curtin, the Tech men’s team – currently receiving votes in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association national poll – finished in fourth place with 105 points. Indiana, one of three nationally ranked teams at the 11-team meet, won the event with 47 points, followed by Princeton (70 points) and Columbia (84).
“I thought it was a good start to the most competitive part of our schedule,” Tech cross country coach Ben Thomas said. “The men packed up well through 4K, but split up too much over the last 4K. We can do better and will do better over the second half of the next race.”
Stuart Robertson was the Hokies’ second-best finisher, coming in 12th in a time of 24:19.3. Neil Gourley finished 19th in a time of 24:24.4, and freshman Peter Seufer came in 32nd with a time of 24:32.5. Darren Barlow was the other scorer for the Hokies, as he came in 40th with a time of 24:43.1.
On the women’s side, Hanna Green led the Hokies, coming in 21st in a time of 21:37.6. Behind Green, Tech finished in seventh place in the team competition with 160 points.
Lauren Berman finished 25th for Tech, running the 6K course in a time of 21:41.4, and Abigail Motley was 28th with a time of 21:46.8. Katie Kennedy and Julie Wiemerslage accounted for the remainder of the team scores, as the finished 41st and 45th, respectively.
“The women got some good experience and had just a 37-second spread between our first-through-fifth runners,” Thomas said. “I asked the ladies to get out aggressively, and they did. It cost them a little over the second half of the race, but they're getting in the right mindset for the races coming up.”
William and Mary’s Regan Rome won the women’s race with a time of 20:39.5, and teammate Emily Stites was second. Princeton, behind three top-10 finishes, won the event, followed by North Carolina, Columbia, Villanova, Indiana and William and Mary. Only Indiana and Columbia were not ranked in the USTFCCCA national poll.
Several other Hokie runners competed at the George Mason Invitational at Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg, Virginia. Tech’s Andrew Eason won the race in a time of 25:09.93, while Andrew Goldman finished seventh overall with a time of 25:35.82. Ashkan Mohammadi was 16th overall.
On the women’s side, the Hokies finished second at the five-team meet behind host George Mason with 55 points. Alyssa Shupe and Shalonda Mitchell finished eighth and ninth in times of 23:32.60 and 23:38.55, respectively. Anne Grumbine was 13th and Rachel Pocratsky came in 17th. Shannon Quinn finished 25th.
The Hokies now take two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Pre-National Meet, which will be held in Louisville, Kentucky on Oct. 17.