Welcome to ‘Hoyas of the Week,’ where we take a look at some outstanding performances in the past week across all of Georgetown’s athletic programs.
Josette Norris – Women’s Track & Field
Both Georgetown track & field teams took part in the Penn State National this Friday and Saturday in University Park, PA. Graduate student Josette Norris shined in the mile run, taking home first place with a personal record performance of 4:46.04. She finished 1.86 seconds ahead of the second place finisher, Cornell senior Annie Taylor. A Tenafly, NJ native, Norris transferred from North Carolina in 2016. “Josette Norris had a well-deserved win in the women’s mile after the pacer dropped off, taking control and pushing the pace to drop the field and run a solid time of 4:46,” director of track & field Julie Culley said. “She’s had a great few weeks of training to prep for her first indoor 5K at Iowa State in two weeks.” The Iowa Classic is in Ames, Iowa on Feb. 8, but the Hoyas’ next meet is the Villanova Invitational on Saturday in Staten Island, NY.
Andrew Rozanov – Men’s Tennis
The Georgetown men’s tennis team struggled mightily during its brief Midwest road trip this past weekend, first dropping a 5-2 decision to Marquette in Milwaukee, WI on Friday before falling 6-1 to DePaul in Chicago, IL a day later. Despite his squad’s troubles, freshman Andrew Rozanov was the bright spot, as he picked up two wins. The London native went down a set in his first matchup against the Golden Eagles’ junior Brett Meyers, but came back with a strong 6-2 second set win. In the final set, he took the 9-8 tie breaker to come out on top. Against the Blue Demons’ junior Tamas Zador from Hungary, Rozanov came out successful in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. He will look to build on his strong efforts in the Hoyas’ matchup with DC rival George Washington on Feb. 8.
Joe White – Men’s Track & Field
Joe White is our first repeat Hoya of the Week and it is well deserved as the All-American had an astounding performance in the 800-meter. White finished in 1:46.91 to take the race and set the record for the fastest 800-meter in the history of Penn State’s Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. White outpaced his closest competitor, the Nittany Lions’ junior Dominic Perretta, by more than a second. The former US Olympic Team Trials semifinalist was still over a second shy of his personal record and the Hoyas’ school record, 1:45.73. White, a fifth year student, set that mark back in the finals of the NCAA Outdoor Championships during his junior season. “Joe’s performance in the 800-meter run was a strong demonstration of his fitness and growing confidence,” Culley said. “To break the facility record at Penn State is an incredible benchmark.”
Sydney Goodson – Women’s Tennis
Women’s tennis was also away in the midwest this weekend, with matchups against Butler in Griffith, IN on Friday, and then against DePaul on Saturday. Goodson, a senior from Great Falls, VA, got off to a strong start against the Bulldogs defeating the duo of sophomore Emily Neal and freshman Sara Linn 6-3, alongside her doubles partner sophomore Sofie Moenster. Goodson would go on to dominate in singles competition as well, taking down freshman Sarah Monesmith in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4. Moenster and Goodson couldn’t replicate their doubles success against the Blue Demons’ duo of sophomore Lenka Antonijevic and senior Keisha Clousing. Goodson faced an 0-2 day when she went down a set in her singles match against sophomore Alina Kuzmenkova. Goodson fought back though, and won the second set 6-4. She finished the last set strong and won 7-6 to take her third victory in two days. Women’s tennis next faces off with Maryland on Thursday.
