Women's Cross Country | 11/9/2018 3:56:00 PM
Results
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Led by a freshman and coupled with strong performances throughout their lineup, the George Mason women's cross country team continued to build on an impressive season.
The Patriots placed 16th at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships on Friday at Winthrop Farm for their best finish at a regional since 2010. The Mason men finished 17th as both fields featured more than 35 teams.
Freshman Siobhra O'Flaherty led the way for the fourth straight race by finishing 26th as Mason recorded a score of 476, finishing ahead of the SEC's South Carolina (479) for the second time this season. The score is a huge improvement from a year ago, when the Patriots had a score of 628 and finished 22th at the regional meet.
"The women did a very nice job," head coach
Andrew Gerard said. "They've made very nice progress over the last year. We scored almost 200 points less than this same meet last year and it's a credit to them and their hard work over the last year. It's virtually the same ladies as a year ago, except for Siobhra up front. While she's done an excellent job, she doesn't account for even a majority of those points."
O'Flaherty, a native of Carlow, Ireland, finished the 6K race in a time of 20:49.2. The A-10 All-Conference performer has led the Patriots in all four races she has competed in this year.
Senior
Ciara Donohue took 75th in 21:34.4 and junior
Khalilah Hamer climbed 43 spots to place 94th in 21:46.1. Senior
Carolyn Conley placed 130th in 22:09.1 and junior
Margaret Morgan rounded out the top five with a time of 22:35.2 to take 160th. Right behind her in 161st was teammate and sophomore
Riley Freeland in 22:38.0.
The men posted a score of 428 to take 17th. Graduate student Trent Lancaster led the way by placing 59th with a time of 31:29.7 on the 10K course. Fellow graduate student Jonathan Schloth was three spots behind in 62nd in 31:38.6. Rounding out the top five was graduate student Dustin Jutras (85th, 31:59.8), junior Thomas Amabile (109th, 32:22.6) and junior Ethan Newland (116th, 32:34.1).
The Patriots close out the cross country season with the ECAC/IC4A Championships on Nov. 17 at Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y.
