This past weekend, the Georgetown University men’s and women’s track and field teams participated in the NCAA Championship at the Jacksons Track Center in Nampa, Idaho. The women were successful in the tournament—between placing 4th in the distance medley relay and senior Emily Infeld becoming a national champion in the 3,000-meter race, they tied with Baylor for 16th place overall.
For the DMR event, junior Rachel Schneider led off the Hoyas for the first 1,2000 meters. She was followed by junior Amanda Kimbers, and sophomore Chelsea Cox ran the third leg before Infeld anchored the team with an impressive finish time of 11:05.53.
“We followed our same routine for the entire day of the race,” said Infeld. “We approached this meet as we did any other meet. Coach [Chris] Miltenberg always tells us to follow our same routine and not do anything different.”
That strategy has been a part of the women’s track and field program for the duration of the season, and has proven successful in their meets.
After the DMR event, Infeld looked forward to the 3,000-meter run, which provided her a chance to prove her speed.
“I felt really good going into the 3,000 [meter] on Saturday,” she said. “The DMR was tactical, so I did not split a very fast time.”
As a means of preparation, the All-American stuck with the team’s mantra of not changing tactics. “I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary,” she said. “I tried to stay relaxed and have fun with the race.”
But Infeld did identify specific parts of her performance that she wanted to improve before the big race. “I was really looking to work on certain areas, such as my kick, which I was lacking [during Friday’s event],” she said. “I was fired up to race and learn from the mistakes.”
The senior completed the event with a time of 9:15.44, breaking the facility record by 14 seconds. The run earned her the title of NCAA Champion, as well as All-American status for the tenth time.
“I am still very shocked and excited,” she said. “I have strived to win for a long time and am…excited that my training paid off, but I am more so excited that I was able to work on the mistakes of my race [from Friday’s race].”
On behalf of the Hoyas, Infeld is proud of their overall success, but it also looking forward to the final chapter of her senior season.
“I am very proud of my teammates,” she said. “Our team works so hard, and we have so many talented girls that will get to compete in outdoors.”
