WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University track & field teams opened the outdoor season in Philadelphia for the Penn Challenge on Saturday, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. The events were held at Franklin Field. The season opener was highlighted by several top-five finishes, including a pair of victories in the men's and women's steeplechase.
Men's Recap
The 2,000-meter steeplechase was the first track event for the Hoyas and they came out strong as juniors
Christian Liddell (Rogers, Ark. / Rogers) and
Eion Nohilly (Golden's Bridge, N.Y. / John Jay) finished first and second, respectively. Freshman
Price Owens (Yorktown, Va. / Grafton) made his outdoor debut finishing in fourth place. In the 400-meter dash,
Nate Alleyne (Downingtown, Pa. / Bishop Shanahan) secured a fourth-place finish of his own crossing the line in a time of 49.05. Shortly following the 400-meter dash, sophomore
Denzell Brown (Washington, D.C. / McKinley Tech) finished in fifth place in the 100-meter dash notching a time of 11.19.
Coming off an impressive indoor season, All-American
Lawrence Leake (Huntington, N.Y. / Huntington) competed in the 400-meter hurdles and finished second clocking a time of 55.78. Junior
Johnathan Chavez (Knoxville, Tenn. / Knoxville Catholic) and freshman
Rusty Kujdych (Feasterville Trevose, Pa. / Neshaminy) secured the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, in the 3,000-meter run. In the last event of the day, the quartet of
Kino Cheltenham (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Brooklyn Tech), Alleyne,
Kenny Rowe (Cockeysville, Md. / Loyola-Blakefield) and Leake captured the victory in the 4x400-meter relay finishing three seconds ahead of second-place Army, running a 3:16.72. Overall, the men finished in fifth place as a team recording a total of 62 points.
Women's Recap
On the women's side, the Hoyas posted top-three showings in a pair of events. In the 2,000-meter steeplechase, the freshman trio of
Katie Dammer (Clarks Summit, Pa. / Abington Heights),
Katherine Modrall (Carmel, Ind. / Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory) and
Rachel Sessa (Tewksbury, Mass. / Tewksbury Memorial) each finished in the top four in their outdoor season debuts with Dammer pulling away to secure the victory in a time of 7:04.46. Junior
Meg Mathison (Middleton, Wis. / Waunakee) crossed the line just one second behind to place second. Freshman
Alyssa Aldridge (Linwood, N.J. / Mainland Regional) tallied a third-place finish with a time of 10:08.94 in the 3,000-meter run. The women came in seventh place as a team out of 12 schools totaling 41 points on the day.
"Today's windy and cold conditions made times and marks irrelevant, but we were proud of how our squad competed," Director of Track & Field
Julie Culley said. "The highlight was adding the steeplechase and the 400 hurdles back to the event lineup and seeing the team get their legs and feet wet again in those events. We have a couple weekends ahead of us with a lot of great racing opportunities between Florida Relays, the Sun Angel Classic and Princeton's Sam Howell Invitational. We look forward to some solid early season performances."
The Blue & Gray will return to the track next weekend, as the squads will split with one group heading to Gainesville, Florida for the Florida Relays, hosted by the University of Florida, while the other group will head across the country to compete in the Stanford Invitational, hosted by Stanford. The Florida Relays will begin on Thursday, March 28 and the Stanford Invite is set to commence on Friday, March 29.
Georgetown Men Among the Top Three
Men's 2,000-Meter Steeplechase
1.
Christian Liddell, 5:54.12
2.
Eion Nohilly, 5:57.49
Men's 400-Meter Hurdles
2.
Lawrence Leake, 55.78
Men's 4x400-Meter Relay
1. Georgetown (
Kino Cheltenham,
Nate Alleyne,
Kenny Rowe,
Lawrence Leake)
Georgetown Women Among the Top Three
Women's 2,000-Meter Steeplechase
1.
Katie Dammer, 7:04.46
2.
Meg Mathison, 7:05.52
3.
Katherine Modrall, 7:08.99
Women's 3,000-Meter Run
3.
Alyssa Aldridge, 10:08.94
