WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University track & field program finished in third place on the women's side and in fourth place on the men's at the conclusion of the 2024 BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championships Presented by Jeep in Chicago, Illinois.
Georgetown won three titles, set a pair of meet records, earned a BIG EAST major award on the women's side and had 19 top-five finishes across both the men's and women's individual events.
ON THE RECORD
"Overall I'm very pleased with how our men and women competed this entire weekend. Though we lacked the depth to contend for a team title, we certainly made sure the Hoyas were on the podium and made our mark in the record books as well. Tremendous effort across the board but a few of the highlights: four men in the final of the 800m & mile showed our depth in both in the middle distances. Tinoda's runner up finish in the 800m (running 1:46.98 to run under the BIG EAST Record) along with his 46.9 anchor leg to get us to 2nd was definitely a moment to remember. Also saw Josh Paige break his own BIG EAST record in the 200m…twice in one weekend was a sight to behold (20.90).
For our women,
Melissa Riggins breaking the BIG EAST 800m record (running 2:03.42) and 2nd-fastest time in school history truly reflects the range she possesses. We're excited to see what she does at the NCAA Championships in a few weeks.
Maya Drayton's 200m victory along with runner up finishes in the 400m and as part of the 4x400m earned her highest performer honors; well deserved after running five total races on the weekend.
What more can I say…we're so proud of how our men and women have competed throughout this indoor season and we're looking to close out the season with some exceptional performances with a few Hoyas competing at the NCAA Championships in a few weeks." - Director of Track & Field / Cross Country
Alton McKenzie
"I was very happy with how the men competed this weekend. We had four finalists in both the 800m and the mile. I thought across the board they competed well and it was nice to repeat as 4x800m champs." - Assistant Coach
Brandon Bonsey
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Melissa Riggins and
Chloe Scrimgeour continue to lead the middle and long distance group. Stepping down in distance and both challenging to win was a great part of the weekend. Scrimgeour broke open the mile and was overtaken in the end, but her closing well is a great sign of championship preparedness for the NCAA meet. Melissa winning the 800m in a championship record, running solo after 200m and passing some big names on our all-time list to sit #2 in Georgetown history, was a major highlight. The rest of the event group littered the day with season and personal bests while racing really tough to score critical points and gain experience for outdoors." - Assistant Coach
Mitchell Baker
RECAPPING THE WOMEN (3rd of 9; 91 points)
- Melissa Riggins stunned in the 800m, setting a new BIG EAST championship record and finishing with the second-fastest time in Georgetown history. Her championship-winning mark of 2:03.42 also ranks 17th nationally.
- DeAnna Martin grabbed another two points for GU with her seventh-place 2:08.82 finish in the 800m.
- Maya Drayton and Abbie Huey dominated the conference field in the 200m, taking first and second place, respectively. Drayton grabbed 10 points for the Hoyas with a season-best time of 24.18, while Huey added another eight points with a time of 24.32. Drayton took the crown with the fastest time out of the first heat while Huey took silver with the top time from the second heat.
- The Hoyas had two top-five finishes in the 400m, with Drayton on the podium earning silver with her 55.06 mark and Kaira Brown's 55.34 time earning her fifth place. They tallied eight and four points each, respectively.
- In the mile, Chloe Scrimgeour's personal-best 4:41.79 earned her a second-place finish and eight points. Chloe Gonzalez joined her on the podium with a 4:44.60 third-place finish for an additional six points for GU.
- Rebecca Ochan earned four points and a fifth-place finish in the 60m with a time of 7.63.
- A trio of Hoyas hit new personal-records in the 3000m, with Kelsey Swenson taking eighth (9:28.12), Mary Hennelly finishing 10th (9:33.71), and Barrett Justema finishing 15th (9:43.49).
- Georgetown took second in the 4x800 with a finish of 8:44.66. Hoyas Sierra Dinneen, DeAnna Martin, Riggins and Gonzalez earned the eight points for GU.
- The Hoyas also took silver in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:43.83, run by KC Ashiogwu, Brown, Drayton and Ochan. Ochan's impressive 54.885 split helped the Hoyas grab another eight points.
- For her efforts on the day, Drayton was named the BIG EAST Women's High Point Performer, tallying 20 points from a win (10), runner-up performance (8) and as part of a runner-up relay (2) at the championships.
RECAPPING THE MEN (4th of 8; 93 points)
- Joshua Paige was crowned champion of the 200m for the third-consecutive year, setting yet another BIG EAST record with a blazing 20.90 finish after breaking his own 2023 record in yesterday's prelims. The first-place finish earned 10 points for the Hoyas.
- Hoyas dominated the field in the men's 800m, claiming four of the top five spots. It took a new meet record in the event to edge out the Hoyas in first as Tinoda Matsatsa placed second with a time of 1:46.98, while Matthew Payamps finished with a season-best 1:47.59 to finish third. Tim McInerney and Abel Teffra rounded out the top five with times of 1:47.70 and 1:48.58, respectively. Teffra's time was a new personal-best.
- Parker Stokes earned silver in the mile with his 4:12.46 time. Joining him on the podium, Camden Gilmore clocked 4:02.34, good enough for third place and another six points for the Hoyas. Lucas Guerra tallied another three points for GU in the event with his sixth-place time of 4:06.01.
- Peter Herold took fifth in the 3,000m with an 8:00.68 finish.
- In the 4x800 relay, Gilmore, Guerra, Ryan Mulrooney and Stokes were crowned BIG EAST champions with a blazing 7:26.90 time.
- Nicholas Givan, Paige, Matsatsa and McInerney took second place in the 4x400 relay with a season-best 3:13.15 finish to secure another eight points for GU.
UP NEXT
The Blue & Gray will be back in action at the NCAA Championships in Boston, Massachusetts. The event will be on Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9.
