On March 7-9, the Georgetown University track and field team traveled to Boston to compete in the NCAA DI Indoor Track and Field National Championships. The Hoyas sent 8 individual runners to compete – 6 men and 2 women. Results and analysis for all their races are below.
Men’s Distance Medley Relay (DMR) Final
The DMR is a 4-person relay in which each team member runs a different distance. The first leg is 1200 meters, the second leg is 400 meters, the third leg is 800 meters, and the last portion of the race is 1600 meters. The total distance run in a DMR is 4000 meters.
The Georgetown men ran their relay in 9:25.77, good for second place overall out of twelve teams in the final round. Graduate middle distance runner Matthew Payamps opened the race for the Hoyas, with senior sprinter Joshua Paige running the second segment. After graduate middle distance runner Tim McInerney flew through the 800 meter portion of the race, graduate distance runner Camden Gilmore anchored the Blue and Gray, coming in just slightly behind the anchor for Oklahoma State.
Photo courtesy of Georgetown Athletics
Women’s One Mile Final
Junior middle distance runner Melissa Riggins was the only competitor for Georgetown in this race, and she showed out. She finished the race in 4:29.02, which put her in fourth place out of 10 in this competition. Perhaps more impressive, though, was the fact that she set both a personal record and a school record with this time. Riggins has been an incredibly consistent and dominant runner for the Hoyas over the course of her collegiate career, and her strong showing in this race is a good sign for the rest of her season.
Photo courtesy of Georgetown Athletics
Women’s 3000 Meter Final
In addition to Riggins, junior distance/middle distance runner Chloe Scrimgeour made it to the finals for the 3000 meter. Scrimgeour finished 7th overall with a time of 8:57.28. Much like her teammate, Scrimgeour has been a vital piece of Georgetown’s success over the past few seasons, and she demonstrated that in her races at this meet. Riggins ran this race as well, and she finished in 9:15.87, putting her in 11th place out of the 16 people who qualified.
Women’s 5000 Meter Final
Scrimgeour showed off her versatility by running the 5k in Boston as well, and just like in the 3000 meter-race, she got 7th place out of 15 participants. Her time of 15:21.80 was less than a minute behind race-winner and NCAA legend Parker Valby, who set a collegiate record for this event during this race.
Photo courtesy of Georgetown Athletics
Men’s One Mile Final
For the men, senior middle distance runner Abel Teffra placed 5th of 10 people in the one mile final with a time of 4:02.57. It was a strong race for him—only a few seconds behind his all-time best of 3:57.76—which came in the 2022-23 season.
Photo courtesy of Georgetown Athletics
Men’s 800 Meter Preliminary Heat
Freshman middle distance/distance phenom Tinoda Matsatsa competed in the 800 meter race. He ran a time of 1:47.81, a mere 0.2 seconds behind his all-time best in the event. Unfortunately, he finished fourth in his preliminary race, which was just short of the standard to advance to the final.
