Jan. 13, 2008
Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University track & field team competed at the Virginia Tech Invitational on January 11 and 12 in Blacksburg, Va. The two-day event saw a number of postseason Hoya qualifiers on both the men's and the women's teams.
For the women, senior Ashley Hubbard (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) recorded two BIG EAST qualifying times when she placed fourth and fifth in the 400m and 500m events, respectively. The mile run was dominated by the Blue and Gray with Hoyas taking three of the top-10 spots and junior Lise Ogrodnick (Beaconsfield, Que./Beaconsfield) leading the way with a BE qualifying time of 4:56.08. Sophomore Renee Tomlin (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) followed up in second place with a BIG EAST cut time of 4:58.88. Rounding out the top-10 finishers was sophomore Kelsey Malmquist (Williston Park, N.Y./Kellenerg Memorial) with a seventh-place time of 5:13.49.
Georgetown qualified four student-athletes for the postseason in the women's 1000m with four top-10 finishes. Graduate student Elizabeth Maloy (Loudonville, N.Y./The Academy of Holy Names) finished second with a time of 2:47.90 while graduate student Susan Hendrick (Solomons, Md./Patuxent/Columbia University), sophomore Lauren Gregory (Denville, N.J./Morris Knolls) and senior Joanna Rodgers (Fairfax, Va./J.W. Robinson/NC State) finished fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively - all qualifying for the BIG EAST Conference Indoor Championship.
Senior Maggie Infeld (University Heights, Ohio/Beaumont) took home top honors in the 3000m with a time of 10:04.01 to qualify for the postseason, followed up by junior Natasha LaBeaud (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) with a time of 10:04.18 also hitting a BE standard. Junior Kailin Collins (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) placed seventh in the event with a time of 10:37.35.
Sophomore Sarah Wernick (Florence, Mass./Northhampton) was the lone Hoya to qualify for the postseason in the 200m with a time of 25.30, good enough for eighth place in the event.
In field events, sophomore Tanore Barrow (New Haven, Conn./James Hillhouse) finished 13th with a throw of 12.98m, enough to qualify for the postseason - though, she had previously qualified in the event earlier in the season. Senior Alex Baptiste (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) placed 10th in the triple jump and recorded a BIG EAST qualifying jump (11.55m).
The quartet of Rodgers, Tomlin, Hendrick and LaBeaud finished first in the women's distance medley relay with a time of 11:54.52, more than 10 seconds ahead of the second-place team from High Point University. Georgetown finished fourth in the women's 4x400m relay, timing in at 3:48.90.
For the men, freshman Ryan Carter (Fairfport, N.Y./Fairport) ran the 55m in 6.42 in the preliminaries to qualify for the finals when he ran the event in 6.37, qualifying him for the postseason. Also qualifying for the Blue and Gray in the 55m was junior Kenny Mitchell (Atlanta, Ga./Westlake) who finished ninth in the prelim with a time of 6.46.
Sophomore Danny Harris (Deer Park, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) recorded two postseason qualifying times - the fist in the 400m when he took 10th place with a time of 49.53 and then in the 500m when he recorded a second-place time of 1:04.87. In that same event, sophomore John Maloy (Loudonville, N.Y./Shaker) finished fourth with a time of 1:05.18, also qualifying for the BE Championship.
The Blue and Gray took the top-three spots in the mile run with freshman Ayalew Taye (Portland, Maine/Cushing Academy) leading the way with a time of 4:11.66. Juniors Levi Miller (Belfast, Maine/Belfast Area) and Alex Mason (Scottsdale, Ariz./Brophy Prep) followed up in second and third place, respectively. Rounding out the top-10 finishers in the mile run was senior Shane Young (Reston, Va./Herndon) with a time of 4:19.54 - all four qualified for the BIG EAST Championship.
In the 1000m, senior Matt Debole (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) took home top honors in the event with a time of 2:22.89 followed by junior Andrew Bumbalough (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood Academy) and senior Rasheed Thompson (Herndon, Va./Herndon), timing in at 2:24.16 and 2:25.83, respectively. The three times qualify for the postseason. The Hoyas qualified another three student-athletes in the 3000m with three top-five times. Senior Michael Banks (Holden, Mass./Wachusett Regional) placed second with a time of 8:18.59, followed by junior Mike Krisch (Hopkins, Minn./Hopkins) and sophomore Alex Bean (Somers N.Y./Somers) in third and fourth place, respectively.
Senior Neil Grosscup (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest) recorded a BE qualifying time in the 800m with a third-place finish, timing in at 1:54.80.
Freshman Chris Kinney (Stockbridge, Ga./Stockbridge) and junior Terrell Gissendanner (Rochester, N.Y./Edison Tech) qualified for the postseason as they finished the 55m hurdles in 7.54 and 7.67, respectively.
The Georgetown men won the distance medley relay with senior Brandon Bonsey, junior Ricky Barrios, Bean and senior Justin Scheid (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXII) taking first with a time of 10:00.15. The quartet of sophomore Sandy Roberts (Raleigh, N.C./Broughton), senior Michael Billington (Harrisonburg, Va./Turner Ashby), Banks and senior Daniel Nunn (San Luis Obispo, Calif./San Luis Obispo) placed second with a time of 10:01.11.
The Hoyas return to action on Saturday, January 19 at the Penn State Open.
