Cross Country Opens 2010 Season Friday

9/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track/Cross Country

Sept. 2, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC- The George Washington University cross country teams will open the 2010 season at the Mount St. Mary's Duals in Emmitsburg, PA on Friday afternoon. The Colonials will compete against district rivals American and George Mason in addition to Mount St. Mary's, Maryland, St. Francis (Pa.) and Maryland-Baltimore County.

The duals will take place on the campus of Mount St. Mary's University and will be run as a 5K for both the men and women's race. The men will start at 1 pm with the women to follow after the conclusion of the first race.

At last season's duals, the men's team finished in third place and were led by Zach Borenstein who finished in 15th place with a time of 16:11.94. The women's team finished in fourth place and was paced by Heather Stevens (20th) and Julia Weir (21st), who notched times of 20:01 and 20:05, respectively.

Top runner Megan Hogan will not participate in the season opener, as head coach Brian Beil prefers to have his All-American focus on three big meets in the future, including the A-10 Championship and NCAA Regionals.

2010 GW Men's Cross Country Outlook

The George Washington men's cross country team is looking to make strides in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings in 2010 with a combination of steady returning runners and a stable of talented newcomers. Head coach Brian Beil has added four freshmen and one transfer to a group of four veterans in a quest to climb among the A-10's top programs.

Senior captain Zach Borenstein emerges as the top runner for the Colonials this season. He battled back from injury early in his career to start each meet in 2009 and is the most talented runner on Beil's 10-man roster. He notched two top-30 finishes last fall and is expected to build on last year's performances and be in contention for A-10 All-Conference accolades this season.

Joining Borenstein at the top is newcomer David McCutcheon, a sophomore transfer from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. McCutcheon is projected to step in and be a major contributor in his first season at Foggy Bottom. His 5,000-meter personal best of 14:37 ranks as the fastest on GW's current roster and his presence alone is expected to motivate the rest of the team. He could very well join Borenstein in pushing for an A-10 All-Conference selection this season.

Rounding out the top three is sophomore Alex Dadds, who has consistently been among the Colonials top finishers when he competes. He finished 59th at the A-10 Championships and notched a 40th place finish at Mount St. Mary's. Following a solid summer of training, Beil expects Dadds to continue to be a scoring runner this season and potentially push for A-10 All-Conference.

Freshman duo Jacob Levine and James Stern, along with sophomore Nathaniel Diskint, complete the team's top-7 runners and are all expected to be key contributors for GW this fall. Stern's arrival at Foggy Bottom makes him the third member of his family to compete in the cross country program this season. His sisters, Jessica and Julianna both compete on the women's team. Levine had a very successful high school career, finishing 12th in the New York state cross country championships as a senior and should make an immediate impact this season.

Freshmen Andrew Carey and Daniel Kleine are set to make their debut at George Washington following successful high school campaigns. Carey was a three-time league All-Star at Belmont high school and Kleine served as team captain of his team during his senior year. Both are expected to push for spots in the top-7 throughout the season. Juniors Scott Garrett and Dan Kane add depth and veteran leadership to the roster and could also crack the top-7 during the season.

With the addition of a McCutcheon, Diskint and a strong incoming freshmen class, Beil expects the men's cross country team to be much improved from a year ago. If they can steer clear of injuries the Colonials should be making noise in the Atlantic-10 in 2010-11 and the years that follow.

2010 GW Women's Cross Country Outlook

With the return of NCAA All-American Megan Hogan and Atlantic 10 All-Conference performer Jessica Stern, the George Washington women's cross country team is poised to raise the bar in 2010. Head coach Brian Beil returns five other letterwinners and welcomes a pair of new runners with the goal of improving last season's eighth-place finish at the A-10 Championships.

Hogan followed up her record-setting debut season in 2008 by capturing the program's first-ever A-10 individual title last fall, blowing away the field by nearly a minute.

She followed with an 11th place finish at NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals and a 27th place finish at the NCAA National Championships to earn All-America honors. Hogan's dominance carried over to the spring schedule, where she placed fifth in the 10,000-meter run at the Stanford Invitational and qualified for the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. In a USATF field full of professional and top collegiate runners, Hogan cruised to a sixth-place finish, establishing her as the favorite to repeat as A-10 champion and contender for an individual title at the NCAA Championships in her final season of eligibility.

Back to join Hogan is senior captain Jessica Stern, who had a very successful 2009 campaign in which she earned A-10 All-Conference honors following an eighth-place finish at the conference meet. She regularly finished among the Colonials' top three as a junior and is expected to continue the trend this season while making a push to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Jessica's younger sister, sophomore Juliana Stern, is expected to make her GW debut this fall after rehabbing a severe hamstring injury last season. Juliana had a terrific career at Satellite High School in Florida and is expected to be a key contributor for the Colonials in 2010 now that she is fully healed. Her personal record in the 5,000 currently ranks as third fastest on the team.

Sophomore Julia Weir will look to build on a solid 2009 season and is penciled in at the fourth spot heading into the fall. Beil expects her to push for a top-20 finish at the A-10 Championships. Sophomore Heather Stevens is expected to make strides as the team's No. 5 runner after gaining a year of collegiate experience last season.

Junior Emily Foster missed the 2009 fall schedule due to injury, but rebounded for a solid spring season and will push for a spot in the top-5 this year. Rounding out the roster is junior Kyla Sommers, senior captain Estelle Faulkner and freshman Kelly Bartz. All three add depth to the roster and are capable of cracking the top-7 during the season.

If the women's squad can avoid injuries and get yet another strong year from its top runners, Beil expects his harriers to make serious waves across the conference and push for a top-5 finish at the A-10 Championships.