Last weekend, the Georgetown men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams competed at the second annual Armory Collegiate Invitational, which is regarded as the nation’s premier collegiate invitational of the season. Several runners posted NCAA provisional qualifying times and the women’s distance medley team ran the fastest time in the country this season.
“The race fell at a funny time,” Georgetown Director of Track and Field Ron Helmer said. “I had mixed feelings about the weekend. It was good, but not real special. I felt like we were going through the motions, and it was good, but there was no magic. The Invitational took place just one week before the Big East Conference Championship,” he said.
The biggest event for the Hoyas was the women’s distance medley. The team of graduate student Heather Blackard, junior Jill Laurendeau, senior Tyrona Heath and sophomore Monica Hargrove clocked in at 11:14.09, to win the event and set a new meet record.
“None of them had a great carry,” Helmer said, “but they were four nice jobs and that allowed us to run the time we did. We’re a whole lot better than that.”
Junior Erin Sicher had a personal best in the mile with a time of 4:44.98. She placed fourth in the meet and may earn a place in the NCAA championship. Sophomore Treniere Clement placed seventh and senior Lorena Adams placed eighth. Both Clement and Adams posted times that qualify for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship.
Sophomore Jesse O’Connell took first place in the men’s 800M race with a time of 1:49.83, an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Chris Miltenberg and Corey Smith placed third and fourth in the 3000M, running at an almost identical pace, as they have for most of the season. Their times of 8:01.73 and 8:02.71 respectively both qualify provisionally for the NCAA Championship.
The Hoyas also competed at the NCAA Junior Cross Country Championships held in Vancouver, Wa. this weekend. Four first-year runners participated in the event and two, Rob Kaborsi and Nicole Lee, qualified to represent the United States as members of a 16-person squad in Dublin, Ireland in March.
“This is a trip that is a great learning experience, and it’s a great thing for our own program,” Helmer said.
Next weekend the Hoyas travel to Syracuse, N.Y. for Big East Conference Championships.
“As coaches and athletes we need to take satisfaction in a job well done [this weekend], and we need to look forward to the next few weeks. I think the appropriate message was sent,” Helmur said.
