Battling several injuries, the Dartmouth men's and women's cross country teams struggled at the Adidas Wisconsin Invitational on Friday, finishing 32nd and 44th, respectively, at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wis. Of the nation's 30 ranked men's teams, 21 were on the line in Madison, as well as 22 of the top 30 women's teams.
John Bleday '14 went down during the race, suffering a high ankle sprain that could keep him sidelined for up to a month, and did not finish the race. On the women's side, Abbey D'Agostino '14, favored by many to win the race, did not start, nor did Christie Rutledge '16, who finished as the Big Green's second runner in each of the team's first two races. With D'Agostino and Rutledge sidelined due to injury, the women started only five runners, compared to seven for almost every other team.
Bleday's loss had a "huge effect on the team," according to Will Geoghegan '14, Dartmouth's top finisher.
"He's definitely one of our top three," Geoghegan said. "Hopefully he'll be able to run at [the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships on Oct. 27], but we'll see how it plays out."
Hannah Rowe '14 said that the loss of the team's top two runners was hard on the team's morale.
"Losing Abbey and Christie had a huge impact," Dana Giordano '16 said. "No one was really comfortable starting. You're supposed to start with seven for a reason."
The men's team was led by Geoghegan and Jonathan Gault '13, who finished with identical times of 24:16 over the eight-kilometer course. Geoghegan finished in 99th place, while Gault came across in 102nd in the tightly-packed field.
Phil Royer '13 (140th, 24:27), Dylan O'Sullivan '15 (181st, 24:37) and Curtis King '16 (230th, 24:57) rounded out the scoring positions for the Big Green. Defending national champion Lawi Lalang of the University of Arizona won the race in course-record time for the second consecutive year, crossing in 23:03, four seconds ahead of teammate Stephen Sambu.
Dartmouth finished with 732 points, well back of first-place Stanford University, which tallied 135. Seven of the eight Ivy League schools made the trip to Madison, led by Columbia University, whose total of 308 points was good for a tie for fifth place. Princeton University and Harvard University both defeated Dartmouth as well, finishing 14th and 28th, respectively. The Big Green defeated Yale University, Cornell University and Brown University, all of whom finished in the bottom six of the 45-team field.
"That was the fastest meet in the country other than nationals," Geoghegan said. "It should be good preparation for us heading into [Heps and the NCAA Northeast Regional]."
The Dartmouth women sent a relatively young group to Wisconsin, as the team's five starters included two freshmen and a sophomore. Giordano finished first for the Big Green, covering the six-kilometer course in 20:54, placing her in 115th overall in the race. Rowe finished in 158th in 21:08, which was good for second on the Big Green team. Sarah DeLozier '15 (216th, 21:30), Kate Sullivan '13 (292nd, 22:08) and Sarah Bennett '16 (297th, 22:17) rounded out the Big Green finishers, giving Dartmouth a total of 1,078 points, good for 44th in the 48-team field. Freshman Laura Hollander of California Polytechnic State University took the individual title, setting a course record of 19:33, two seconds ahead of NCAA Indoor 5,000-meter champion Betsy Saina of Iowa State University.
Saina's second-place finish paced the Cyclones to the team title with 109 points, well ahead of second-place Stanford (181). Cornell was the top Ivy finisher, coming in fifth overall with 264 points. Yale finished 13th, while Harvard, Princeton and Brown all finished in the top 30. Columbia also missing its top runner in Waverly Neer, who finished second behind D'Agostino at Heps last fall finished 36th in the race, 252 points clear of the Big Green.
"The last race at the Paul Short Run is more indicative of how we'll do as the season goes on," Giordano said.
The Wisconsin Invitational was the biggest of the season for the Big Green women and had a larger field than will be seen at nationals.
"It was terrifying looking down that line and seeing all of those people," Giordano said.
With a young team, Rowe said that she was one of the few runners present who had experienced a race of that magnitude. Coupled with the loss of D'Agostino and Rutledge, the atmosphere was intimidating for the team, Rowe said.
"It definitely helps us know that we can compete with these big schools if we're firing on all cylinders," Rowe added.
Both teams return to action on Oct. 27 for the Heptagonal Championships at Princeton.
"As long as we have people back, Heps should be a lot better," Rowe said. "First in the Ivy League may be a stretch, but there's no way we should be last."
The men's team also expects to perform better in New Jersey, though the team's finishing position may be impacted by whether or not Bleday, the Heps champion in the 3,000-meter run last winter, runs.
"We'll definitely do better at Heps," Geoghegan said. "We'll for sure be ahead of Harvard and should be competing with Princeton and Columbia. We think we can make something happen at Heps."
Gault is a member of The Dartmouth Senior Staff. Sullivan is a member of The Dartmouth Staff.
