April 26, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - On a cloudy and mild day in Philadelphia, the Georgetown University track & field team spent one final day at historic Franklin Field for the 2008 Penn Relay Carnival. To highlight the day, the quartet of freshman Chris Kinney (Stockbridge, Ga./Stockbridge), junior Kenny Mitchell (Atlanta, Ga./Weber), freshman Sean Suber (Mitchellville, Md./DeMatha) and freshman Spenser Carter (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) won the men's IC4A 4x100m relay with a time of 41.03 in front of the crowd of 49,831 - the second-largest Saturday attendance in Penn Relays history. The men's team also took fifth place in the men's 4xmile relay while the women were able to garner a second-place finish in the ECAC 4x400m relay and a fourth-place finish in the women's 4x800m relay.
In the men's college IC4A 4x100m relay, the Hoyas took a quick lead behind the speed of Kinney and Mitchell, but even more impressive and beneficial was the flawless handoff between the two. With Suber to follow and Carter to run anchor, the Hoyas comfortably took first ahead of Virginia (41.17), Lincoln [Pa.] (41.20) and Buffalo (41.28) as the top four of an eight-team field.
The first event of the day for the Hoyas was the men's college 4xmile relay featuring senior Michael Banks (Holden, Mass./Wachusett Regional), junior Levi Miller (Belfast, Maine/Belfast Area), senior Matt Debole (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) and junior Andrew Bumbalough (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood Academy). The quartet placed fifth and recorded a time of 16:33.56.
Banks was the leadoff man and ran steady between third and fifth until the last turn saw a burst from the remainder of the runners in the 11-team field as he recorded a 4:13.0 split. Miller took over and finished with a 4:12.9 split as the Blue & Gray continued to trail at the beginning of the third leg. DeBole ran an impressive 4:04.3 split and pulled the Hoyas up to eighth place during his stanza as Bumbalough was set at anchor.
Bumbalough ran a bold race, taking over seventh on the backstretch of his second lap and eventually catching the pack by the end of the second lap. Bumbalough made his move on the first turn of lap three and by the backstretch was in second place. He kept up his pace and ran a 4:03.4 split, a personal best for the junior and in the top 20 on Georgetown's all-time top performances list.
Despite stellar performances from DeBole and Bumbalough in the third and fourth legs, respectively, the Hoyas finished behind the defending champions Texas (16:29.50), Virginia (16:31.04), BIG EAST opponent Syracuse (16:31.99) and crosstown opponent American (16:32.02).
In the women's college 4x800m relay, senior Joanna Rodgers (Fairfax, Va./J.W. Robinson/NC State), senior Ashley Hubbard (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield), sophomore Renee Tomlin (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) and junior Maggie Infeld (University Heights, Ohio/Beaumont) finished fourth with a time of 8:39.80. Rodgers led off with a 2:09.5 split and was in the lead at the end of her frame. Hubbard took over to run a 2:08.8 split, a personal best for the senior, and led the entire second leg. Tomlin ran the third stanza and recorded a 2:11.5 split but the Hoyas fell back to third and Infeld ran the anchor with a 2:10.0 split. On the last turn, Tennessee and LSU pulled away and GU and Boston College battled for third place. LSU won the race with a time of 8:30.98 followed by Tennessee (8:32.60) and Boston College (8:39.38).
In the men's college 4x800m relay, sophomore Danny Harris (Deer Park, N.Y./St. John the Baptist), senior Rasheed Thompson (Herndon, Va./Herndon), sophomore Sandy Roberts (Raleigh, N.C./Broughton) and senior Neil Grosscup (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest) finished 13th with a time of 7:40.53.
To close out the three-day affair for the Hoyas, the women's team took to the track to run the women's college ECAC 4x400m relay. Sophomore Sarah Wernik (Florence, Mass./Northampton), sophomore Abigail Johnson (Willingboro, N.J./Milton Hershey [Pa.]), senior Alex Baptiste (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) and Hubbard finished second with a time of 3:43.66
Wernik led off with a strong run to give Johnson enough of a jump to take over second place in the second frame. Baptiste held on to second place in the third stanza but Morgan State pulled ahead of the pack to take a comfortable lead at first place. Hubbard ran anchor and held on to the cushion provided by her teammates as the Hoyas took second overall. Morgan State won with a time of 3:42.24.
The track & field team is now set for the postseason as they start with the BIG EAST Championships, held at Villanova University on May 2-4.
