WASHINGTON – Georgetown University's track & field program opened the 2024 BIG EAST Indoor Championships on Friday, February 23 at the Dr. Conrad Worrill Indoor Track and Field Center in Chicago. Friday marked day one of the two-day championship, with the Hoyas competing in 20 preliminary events and three finals.
With six events scored on the women's side and five events scored on the men's side, the GU men are currently in sixth place with 13 points while the women's team is in eighth place with five points.
The Hoyas tallied 26 qualifying spots (14 women, 12 men) in 11 events (6 women's events, 5 men's events) from Friday's preliminaries and participated in three of the four finals events on the track.
ON THE RECORD:
"We've had a good first day, with both teams scoring points and more importantly placing finalists in every event that we had athletes competing in prelims. We're excited to get back on the track tomorrow with an opportunity to score in those events. Great effort from both DMR teams to put points on the board. Peter Harold ran a smart race to earn the silver in the men's 5,000m and Josh Paige set the tone for what's to come with his BIG EAST record in the 200m prelims. We'll use that momentum and energy to carry us through Saturday's finals and see where that leaves us at the end of the day." - Director of Track & Field / Cross Country Alton McKenzie
MEN'S HIGHLIGHTS

• Peter Herold earned eight points for the Hoyas, leaning at the line for a podium finish of second in the 5000m final.
• Hoyas Mateo Althouse, Sean Hewitt, Owen Johnson and Ryan Mulrooney tacked on another five points for the Hoyas with a fourth-place finish of 9:56.31 in the distance medley relay (DMR) final.
• Joshua Paige was a star for the Hoyas, breaking his own BIG EAST record in the 200m with a finish of 20.98 to take first in the prelims.
• Nicholas Givan also qualified for the finals in the 200m with a personal-best finish of 21.78.
• Abel Teffra took third overall in the 800m with an automatic qualifying time of 1:50.48. He is first in a quartet of Hoyas to get the AQ as he is joined by Matthew Payamps in fourth (1:50.68), Tim McInerney in fifth (1:50.75), and Tinoda Matsatsa in sixth (1:50.82).
• Parker Stokes won the second heat, clocking4:12.46 for the automatic qualifying spot in Saturday's final..
• Joining him in Saturday's final will be Lucas Guerra, who despite being edged out by Butler's Jesse Hamlin, had a strong final kick to finish second in heat one, timing in at 4:08.30.

WOMEN'S HIGHLIGHTS 

• In the DMR, Caroline Cummings, Mary Hennelly, Barrett Justema, Grace Smiechowski earned five points for the Hoyas with a fourth-place finish of 11:44.73.
• A team effort in heat two saw the Hoyas earn automatic qualifiers in the mile, with Chloe Scrimgeour (4:45.13) finishing first in the heat, closely followed by Chloe Gonzalez (4:45.47) and Anya Hirschfeld (4:46.49). Gonzalez led the first few laps of heat two before Scrimgeour took the lead, with Hirschfeld making a final kick to edge out Villanova's Emily Robinson to meet her teammates. All three Hoyas, and Alli Cryster in heat one, advance to Saturday's finals. 
• Scrimgeour, Hirschfeld and Cryster each set new personal-bests with their marks in the mile.
• Melissa Riggins came out strong in the 800m prelims, taking a comfortable lead and maintaining it to finish first with a time of 2:06.76, winning her heat and recording the fastest time from the prelims. 
• DeAnna Martin also ran a solid 800m, taking an early lead and qualifying for the finals with her season-best 2:09.71 finish, recording the fastest time in the third heat.
• In her first 200m for Georgetown, Abbie Huey took second with a personal-best mark of 24.35, followed by Maya Drayton with a season-best time of 24.51 and Rebecca Ochan's 24.52 finish. All three qualify for the finals.
• Ochan also had a strong performance in the 60m, qualifying for the finals with a 7.64 finish.
• Grace Smiechowski qualified for the 60m hurdles final with her personal-best time of 8.91.

OF NOTE
Paige's 200m set a new BIG EAST record, breaking the previous conference record that he set at last year's 2023 BIG EAST Championships with a 20.99 finish.


TEAM STANDINGS THROUGH DAY ONE
Men: 1. UConn (72); 2. Butler (46); 3. Providence (21); T4. DePaul (17); T4. Villanova (17); 6. Georgetown (13); T7. Marquette (3); T7. Xavier (3)
Women: 1. UConn (98); 2. Villanova (30); 3. Providence (27); 4. DePaul (25); 5. St. John's (20); T6. Butler (12); T6. Marquette (12); 8. Georgetown (5); 9. Xavier (2)


UP NEXT
The Hoyas will compete again tomorrow in day two of the 2024 BIG EAST Indoor Championships, with 20 final events slated to begin at noon for both track and field. All events will be held at the Dr. Conrad Worrill Indoor Track and Field Center in Chicago. 


2024 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE - DAY TWO, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24
*All times in ET.
12:00 PM: Women's Triple Jump – Alexis Emery
12:30 PM: Women's Mile Final - Alli Cryster, Chloe Gonzalez, Anya Hirschfeld, Chloe Scrimgeour
12:40 PM: Men's Mile Final - Camden Gilmore, Lucas Guerra, Charlie North, Parker Stokes
12:50 PM: Women's 60 Hurdles Final - Grace Smiechowski
1:10 PM: Women's 400 Final - (H2 of 2) Kaira Brown, Maya Drayton
1:20 PM: Men's 400 Final - (H1 of 2) Nicholas Givan
1:30 PM: Women's 60 Final - Rebecca Ochan
1:40 PM: Men's 60 Final - Joshua Paige
1:50 PM: Women's 800 Final - DeAnna Martin, Melissa Riggins
2:00 PM: Men's 800 Final - Tinoda Matsatsa, Tim McInerney, Matthew Payamps, Abel Teffra
2:10 PM: Women's 200 Final - (H1 of 2) Maya Drayton; (H2 of 2) Abbie Huey, Rebecca Ochan
2:20 PM: Men's 200 Final - (H2 of 2) Nicholas Givan, Joshua Paige
2:30 PM: Women's 3000 - (H2 of 2) Mary Hennelly, Barrett Justema, Kelsey Swenson
2:45 PM: Men's 3000 - (H2 of 2) Jackson Barna, Peter Herold
3:00 PM: Women's 4x800 - TBD
3:15 PM: Men's 4x800 - TBD
3:30 PM: Women's 4x400 - (H2 of 2) TBD
3:45 PM: Men's 4x400 - (H2 of 2) TBD