Nov. 14, 2009

Photo Gallery

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The No. 20 men's cross country squad ran through a muddy, wet course at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday to emerge second at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

Georgetown won the meet with 38 team points while the Wildcats finished second with 48 points. St. Joe's came in third with 181 points, while Navy and La Salle rounded out the top five with 201 and 203 points respectively.

"We finished how we expected to," said head coach Marcus O'Sullivan. "We got a great run from Hugo Beamish, who bounced back, and I was very happy overall. It was a tough course to run on with very muddy conditions, which caused slower course times, but we ran a strong race today."

Sophomore Mathew Mildenhal was the top finisher for the `Cats crossing the finish line in 31:42. Junior Hugo Beamish was right behind him also finishing in 31:42.

Seniors Dan Lewis and Bobby Papazian ran the course together and came in 10th and 11th place respectively. Lewis clocked in at 32:06, while Papazian finished in 32:07.

Also running in a pack were juniors Carl Mackenzie and Matt Gibney. Both crossed the finish line in 32:42 to earn 21st and 22nd place.

Freshman Matt Kane ran the course in 33:40 for 51st place.

Villanova's top six runners earned a spot on the All-Mid-Atlantic Region squad for finishing in the top-25.

The Wildcats will turn their focus to the NCAA Championships which will be Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind., and are hosted by Indiana State.

Complete Men's Results