The Georgetown indoor track team continued its stellar streak this past weekend, posting 13 first-place finishes at the Rutgers Invitational in Piscataway, N.J. The team came off an impressive finish at the Terrapin Invitational last weekend, where Georgetown recorded several winning times. A second group of Hoyas competed at the Father Diamond Invitational this past weekend held at George Mason University and were also successful, scoring a number of first-place finishes.
At Rutgers, graduate student Kyle Smits finished first in the mile and the 3000-meter run, while posting an Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) qualifying time in the 3000-meter, coming in at eight minutes, 22.6 seconds. Sophomore Jesse O’Connell also posted a top finish in the 1000-meter, while senior Corey Smith finished third in the 1000-meter and second in both the mile and the 3000-meter. Smith qualified for IC4A the previous weekend when he ran the 3000-meter in a time of 8:20.31.
In women’s action, senior Lorena Adams placed first in the 3000-meter and graduate student Heather Blackard put up a winning time of 2:52.20 in the 1000-meter.
Distance was not the only strong point for the Hoyas in the meet. The Georgetown men recorded IC4A qualifying times and finished first in the 4×800-meter and 4×400-meter relays. The 4×400-meter relay team had previously qualified for IC4A with a time of 3:19.12 on Jan. 5.
For the women, sophomore sprinter Dionna Jordan posted very impressive first-place finishes in the 200-meter and 400-meter races, as well as second place in the 55-meter. Sophomore Monica Hargrove and junior Allison Snyder finished first and second in the 800-meter. Hargrove ran a 56.69 in the 400-meter at Maryland the weekend before, qualifying her for the IC4A meet.
At the Father Diamond Invitational, several women turned in first-place times. Junior Janelle Billingslea claimed the top spot in the 500-meter race, while sophomore Treniere Clement won the 1000-meter and junior Erin Sicher captured the win in the mile. For the men, junior Robert Wingate-Robinson ran a strong 400-meter and finished second. Sophomore Ali Najjar also placed second with an outstanding time of 1:03.47 in the 500-meter race.
“I hadn’t run the 500 since freshman year,” said Najjar who ran a personal best and qualified for IC4A on Saturday, “so I was very pleased.”
The Hoyas look to continue their success next week when they head out to Blacksburg, Va. for a Big East match-up at Virginia Tech. “Virginia Tech is definitely a big race and we will probably get some NCAA qualifiers,” Najjar said.
Georgetown is coming off an impressive end to the cross-country season, in which the women finished third in the nation. If Hoyas continue to dominate indoors, they may continue on to Arkansas for the NCAA Indoor Championship meet in March.
