FAIRFAX,
Va.
- The George Mason men's and women's cross country teams will race this Friday,
October 12th in separate races. The men will head to Boone, N.C. for
the Blue Ridge Invitational and the women will head to Delaware for the Blue
and Gold Invitational. The men will be competing in an 8k that will begin at
3:45 p.m. and the women will be racing a 6k at 2 p.m. This race will mark the
last race either team will participate in before the CAA Championships at the
end of the month.
Both teams are coming off second-place finishes in
the Mason Invitational. The men were led by juniors Alex Ott and John Holt who
finished fourth and fifth overall, respectively. Bethany Sachtleben finished third
overall in the women's race; it was the second consecutive race that Sachtleben
has been the first Patriot to cross the line.
Head Coach Andrew Gerard sees the Blue Ridge
Invitational as the last tune-up for the CAA Championships, which his team has
been building towards all season, and a chance to improve on the team's
fundamentals.
"This race is really our last tune-up before the CAA
Championships. We have been building on each race during the season by adding
runners each race who were ready because we want everyone to be at their best
at conference," reflected Gerard. "So this race we will keep working on the
same things that we have been such as focusing on running in a nice tight pack.
We didn't do that quite as well at the home meet, we were close but we were
never really working with each other as much as we should have been. We did
that [running as a pack] well at this race [Blue Ridge Open] last year so we
are going to try and capitalize on that again this year," continued Gerard.
Last year the Blue Ridge Invitational was split into
two races, the Gold and Open. The men took first overall and placed four in the
top-10 in the Gold race and five in the top-10 in the Open race.
Head Coach Sita Waru-Ewell is also using this weekend's
race as preparation for the CAA Championship and is hoping her team can be
competitive and gain some confidence this weekend at the Blue and Gold
Invitational before going into the conference race.
"This race is all about preparing for the CAA
Championship" stated Waru-Ewell "This race is similar to the CAA championships
for us because it is an overnight trip and Delaware is in our conference and
will be racing also. This year the race [Blue and Gold Invitational] is on a
different course so it will be a little bit different, but I am hoping we can
be competitive and gain some confidence going into the conference meet".
Last year at the Blue and Gold Invitational the women
finished third behind the University of Mississippi and Delaware. The University
of Delaware, Delaware Technical Community College, Golden Beacom College,
Howard, University of Maryland, University of Massachusetts, Mount St. Mary's, UMBC
and Westchester University will also be competing in this year's race.
