Geoghegan, McClintock, Brown, Lundkvist earn All-American honors

D1 MEN | D1 WOMEN | D3 WOMEN | D3 MEN | D2 MEN | D2 WOMEN

It was the super bowl of xc today with the 6 national championship races happening throughout the country. Mainer natives earned 4 all-american awards, led by Dartmouth senior Will Geoghegan (14th). 

Geoghegan made his last xc race a memorable one as he positioned himself near the front of the race throughout.  At 3k, He was in 17th place before moving up to 11th at the halfway point (14:59). The former Class A individual champion ('09) for Brunswick continued his strong run moving all the way to 9th with 2k to go before finishing 14th overall. Will's finishing time was 30:22, he led his Dartmouth team once again, as the Big Green placed 25th overall.

What did Will think of the Nationals experience "The whole experience was awesome. Being out there on the line with my teammates made it a lot less nervewracking."

We asked Will what it meant to be an All-American, he said "I was able to get out around 11th and hang on. Being All-American was definitely the goal but I honestly didn't expect to finish as high as I did. It was a great way to end my last season of college XC."

Sophomore Matt McClintock of Purdue University finished 37th to earn his first All-American honors. McClintock covered the first 3k in 8:37.9 which had him in 47th, by the halfway he had moved up 4 spots to 43rd (15:04). He continued move up over the next 3k as he went through 8k in 24:29 in 37th, he wouldn't gain anymore ground as he crossed the finish. But he had secured himself AA honors, becoming the first Boilermarker since 1987 to earn the honors.

"It feels good to accomplish the goal I set for myself. The conditions were pretty rough, very cold and wet and muddy." McClintock said post race.

Watch more video of NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Championships 2013 on flotrack.org

 

Other native mainers running in the men's race were Henry Sterling of Dartmouth College, & Kelton Cullenberg of University of Maine. Both individual had a strong performance as Sterling finished 110th overall, covering the 10k course in 31:24. Cullenberg, who was only the 2nd UMaine runner in history to qualify for the meet, was 8 seconds back from Sterling in 126th, his time was 31:32

On the women's side Iowa State freshman Bethanie Brown finished off an unbelievable freshman campaign with an All-American performance as she finished 37th overall. Brown who was originally scheduled to attend the univeristy of Connecticut this fall, transferred to Iowa State following coach Andrea Grove-McDonough who had recruited her at UCONN. Bethanie worked her way up throughout the 6k race today like a veteran.  She covered the first 2k in 6:24 which had her in 97th spot, by 4k Bethanie had worked her way up to 49th with a top 40 finish within reach. Over the last 2k, she passed 12 more runners to finish 37th, her final time was 20:43.6. She was the 3rd overall freshman in the race, and ran #2 for her team helping them to a 13th place finish.

Brown had this to say about her race "It's really awesome and unbelievable. I figured all-American was possible, but I knew it would be stretch. It feels incredible to be all American at the D1 national championships. I practically feel like I won the whole thing!."

Also competing was Oregon Sophomore Abbey Leonardi who finished 142nd, covering the 6k course in 21:35. Leonardi finished well passing 14 runners over the final 2k. She was the 5th runner for the Ducks as they placed 14th overall as a team.

 

D3

Brandeis senior Amelia Lundkvist led the way for native mainer in the D3 womens race with a 21st place finish. Lundkvist a former Chevrus HS standout, covered the 6k layout in 21:50.3 to earn All-American honors. Amelia started off slower than anyone else who finished in front of her as she went through 2k in 7:24, the patience paid off as she continued to move up throughout the race. She led her team to a 22nd place finish.

Middlebury freshman Erzsebet Nagy was the next Maine native across the line in 42nd. Nagy pushed the pace hard early on covering the first 2k in 7:11. Nagy ran in the top 20 for much of the race until the final finishing straight as fell to the ground before the finish line. Nagy crawled her way across the line, but several runners went by her during that time frame. She was the #2 runner on her team helping them to a podium finish as Middlebury placed 3rd overall.

"I actually have the best team in the world and they are to thank for my amazing experience this season. Third in the nation is unreal." Nagy commented on her experience with the Middlebury program this fall.

As for her home stretch experience " I was having flashbacks to New Englands last year as I was collapsing, but this time I only had 5 meter s to the finish, crawling was definitely epic but that was the most pain I have ever put myself in, which just shows how much I love my team."

Bowdoin College sophomore Lucy Skinner was 30th earning All-American honors. Colby's trio of Alanna McDonough 44th, Catherine McClure 106th & Katherine Connolly 158th ran well for the Mules. While Bates senior Kallie Nixon was 188th.

On the mens side senior Ryan James of Berry College was the top Maine native who finished 56th overall, his final time was 25:36.6.

Colby freshman Silas Eastman was the second maine native. Eastman finished 96th overall covering the 8k course in 25:52.6, he was the top Colby runner on the day leading his team to a 22nd place finish. Also running for Colby was Jeff Hale who placed 138th 26:11.

Senior Liam Cassidy of Tufts was the 2nd native mainer to finish with his 131st place finish. Cassidy's finishing time was 26:07.6, he helped Tufts to a 17th place finish.

Also running were John Lake of NYU who placed 244th overall (27:04.9). Senior Ryan Widzgowski of Keene State in 262nd, 27:48.

Colby was the top Maine team in 22nd, Bates placed 25th.

 

D2

Matt Guiod of Lock Haven University finished 92nd overall as he helped his team to a 12th place finish. Guiod was the 3rd runner for his team, he covered the 10k course in 32:07.5.