X-Country shines in tune-up to championships

After a long break for both the men’s and women’s cross country teams, the Hopkins runners got back into it at the Goucher Invitational and the Pre-National Invitational on October 6th.

The men’s and women’s teams were split up between the two events, however the division of talent did little to negatively effect the Blue Jays.

In the Goucher Invitational, the men finished in second place with 47 points, led by junior Andrew Carey who finished the race in fifth place. Carey was joined by classmate Nathan Dordai and freshman Billy Scola in the top ten.

For the women, Hopkins took eight of the top 10 spots at Goucher, blowing away the competition to finish first by a wide margin over second place Goucher.

Sandwiched between second place finisher freshman Rachel Hegeman and 10th place finisher sophomore Maggie Hashmall were six other Hopkins runners.

At the Pre-Nationals, the men were paced by junior Max Robinson who finished fourth in the event. Robinson was joined in the top 50 by classmate Julian Saliani, sophomore Austin Stecklair, and junior Josh Baker. Despite finishing fourth behind Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Augustana, and Wabash, Hopkins topped Emory, the first place team in the South region, and Trinity (Texas), the second ranked team in the South region.

In an interview with hopkinssports.com, head coach Bobby Van Allen was enthusiastic about his team saying, “I’m really happy with where we are as a team right now and am excited for the championship season to begin in a couple weeks.”

On the women’s side of the race, freshman Hannah Oneda continued her dominance of DIII cross country with her third win of the season. Finishing in a time of 21:37, Oneda beat out Sarahbeth Jones of Augustana by eight seconds for the victory.

Oneda was followed by junior Holly Clarke who came in third, senior Annie Monagle in 16th, freshman Sophie Meehan in 17th, and junior Lara Shegoski in 19th.

With two top five finishes and five top 20 finishes, the race showcased not only the top-end talent of Hopkins, but also the overall depth on the team.

The next time Hopkins hits the ground for a race will be at the Centennial Conference Championships on October 27th. Both the men and the women look to be contenders in the race after strong finishes to the regular season.

Following the Conference Championships, the Blue Jays will then begin NCAA play at the Regional and National Championships. With solid depth throughout, the Blue Jays will look to make noise come playoff time.