WASHINGTON – Georgetown track & field walks away with seven event titles on the second day of the BIG EAST Championships presented by JEEP in Storrs, Connecticut. The men's team (125) came in second place behind UConn (258) and the women's side (112) placed third following Connecticut (209) and Villanova (156). The conference named Joshua Paige the Most Outstanding Male Track Performer and Men's High Point Performer after he swept the 100m and 200m this afternoon. The men match their team performance from 2021 and the women post their best team finish since the 2014 season.
 
ON THE RECORD             
"Another great day to be a Hoya! To say I'm proud of our team performance would be an understatement. It took a full team effort on the track and in the field to garner a third-place finish for our women and runner-up for our men. It speaks to the athletes being ready to compete and I must commend the entire coaching staff (Coaches Bonsey, Baker, Jones and Levermore) who had the squad fully prepared for this meet. I'm especially proud of how we closed out the meet with four relays. The men's 4x800m dominating the field, the women finishing second and our 4x400m teams both crossing the line in third to get on the podium was a thrilling experience as the entire team brought the energy supporting their teammates. It's a privilege having the opportunity to lead our program." - Director of Track & Field / Cross Country Alton McKenzie on the meet
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS - MEN

• Joshua Paige put in an impressive performance at the Championship finishing first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.65 and then repeated his success in the 200-meter dash, placing first with a time of 21.09. He becomes the second Hoya in program history and first since 1990 to double up in the sprints with wins in the 100m and 200m. He joins Chris Brown in achieving that feat.
• Jack Salisbury, Abel Teffra, Matthew Payamps and Parker Stokes finished more than five seconds ahead of the competition as they clinched first in the 4x800-meter relay (7:23.95). Teffra ran the fastest 800m split of the foursome and with Stokes as the anchor, GU was able to out-pace its competition in the final lap to get the win.
• A trio of Hoyas picked up 11 points in the men's 800-meter run, a race that saw a mere five seconds separate all competitors. Camden Gilmore led early but as the field started to make moves, Salisbury surged ahead. With a closing 400 meter split of 52.64, Salisbury took third with a time of 3:47.09 followed by Gilmore (6th, 3:48.30) and Lucas Guerra (7th, 3:49.94).
• Malachi Quarles turned in a third-place finish in the men's 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 15.05, pushing past UConn's Travis Snyder in the battle for the podium.
• Matthew Payamps, Abel Teffra and Tim McInerney took second, third and fifth for 18 points in the 800-meter run. The three Hoyas finished within a second of one another with times of 1:48.09, 1:48.94 and 1:49.80.
• In the 4x400-meter relay, Noah Norris, Jabril El-Amin, McInerney and Paige ran a time of 3:12.62 to finish third. Paige ran 47.91 at anchor to secure the finish over fourth place DePaul.
• Sean Hewitt added four points with his fifth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.79.
• Men's Final Scores: 1. UConn (258); 2. Georgetown (125); 3. Butler (109); 4. Villanova (108); 5. DePaul (106); 6. Marquette (58.5); 7. Providence (48.5); 8. Xavier (8)

 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS - WOMEN

• Freshman Melissa Riggins secured 10 points with her first place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:04.78. Riggins' time is a new facility record at the UConn facility. Sierra Dinneen finished fourth in the race (2:07.03) to tack on five more points for the Hoyas.
• Georgetown went four-for-four in the 5000-meter run with Maggie Donahue (16:11.91), Chloe Scrimgeour (16:17.25), Charlotte Dannatt (16:21.09) and Baylee Jones (16:32.55) taking first, second, third, and fourth, respectively for 29 points.
• Eni Akinniyi became just the second Hoya to ever claim the triple jump crown as she hit a mark of 12.77m in the event. Her new PR puts her at second-best all-time at Georgetown.
• In the women's 1,500-meter run, Sami Corman and Rachel Sessa combined for 10 points with a third- and fifth place finish, respectively. Sessa went out front in the first half of the race but as the field waited to make its move, it was Corman who was up in the front on the bell lap. Corman clocked 4:25.84 while Sessa followed up with a time of 4:26.93.
• Maya Drayton picked up points for the Blue & Gray in both the 200- and 400-meter dash as she clocked a 54.46 in the women's 400-meter dash to finish fifth (4 points).
• Renee Newton and Grace Smiechowski collected 11 points with Newton taking second (1:00.32) and Smiechowski taking sixth (1:03.81) in the 400-meter hurdles.
• Sessa, Corman, Dinneen and Chloe Gonazalez tallied six points with their third-place finish in the 4x800-meter relay. Dinneen ran the fastest 800m split for the group (2:08.90) with Gonzalez at anchor to close out the race for the Hoyas.
• Women's Final Scores: 1. UConn (209); 2. Villanova (156); 3. Georgetown (112); 4. St. John's (108); 5. Marquette (80); 6. Providence (68); 7. DePaul (64); 8. Butler (43); 9. Xavier (17)

 
UP NEXT

• The Hoyas have a bye weekend next week in preparation for the NCAA East Preliminary Meet in Bloomington, Indiana on May 26-28, which is needed to qualify for the finals site of the NCAA Championships in June.