Veteran leadership is often important to any team, however, not essential as is evident by Georgetown College's men's and women's cross country teams.

The Tigers have no seniors this year, but the youthful bunch packs a solid punch. In the season opening race Friday in Berea, the women finished fourth and the men eighth.

On the women's side the youth led the way – six freshmen finished in the top eight Tiger runners on the course and four of the top five.

"It was a good first race," said GC coach Lucas Garnett. "We are very excited about our freshmen and what they did shows why, but we cannot overlook what Karina Egger did and does for our team.

"As one of our three juniors, Karina can really set the tone and tonight she ran her best college race. We are going to continue to lean on her as she's stepped up and accepted that role of leader on and off the course."