The Georgetown men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Annapolis, Md., last week to race for the first time this indoor season. Both the men and women burst into the season with blazing speed, coming away with eight first-place spots and 12 top-three finishes.

The women’s squad finished with successful all-around performances. Graduate student Taylor Williams snagged first place in the 200-meter with a time of 24.55. In her inaugural collegiate race, freshman Sami Corman also finished first in the 1000m event with a time of 2:49.39.

“It’s obviously great to start your collegiate career with a win; Sami was very competitive and showed that she was willing to stay close to the early pace and make a concerted effort to run a fast opener,” Associate Head Coach Alton McKenzie said in an interview with The Hoya.

Corman was not the only Hoya who ran well in the 1000m race. The Blue and Gray gained the top three spots for this event. Graduate student Kennedy Weisner won second place with a time of 2:50.22, with freshman Rachel Sessa close behind in third place with a time of 2:55.02.

“We were one through three in the women’s 1K, so that bodes well for what’s to come later in the year. [It is] critical that we build on that as a team,” McKenzie said.

As for the 200m event, Williams, who reached a personal record, was followed closely by sophomore Cassidy Palmer, who came in third with a time of 24.73. There are high hopes for Williams, according to McKenzie.

“Cassidy ran a PR first time out, so this hopefully will give her added confidence to continue performing at a high level,” McKenzie said. “Taylor is coming off Big East sprint double outdoors, so the expectation is for her to be one of top sprinters in the region.”

The Hoyas found additional success in the 60m hurdle event, where sophomore Malika Houston gained second place with a time of 8.77, and sophomore Lexi Del Gizzo finished second in the 500m race with a time of 1:17.42.

The men’s squad also put on impressive performances, gaining first place in six separate events. Among those top finishes was freshman Ian Delgado, who finished first overall in the mile run with a time of 4:20.23.

Perhaps the most impressive performance of the day was given by freshman Tristan Forsythe, who finished in first place for the 3000m event with a time of 8:28.18. Assistant Track and Field Coach Brandon Bonsey was happy with Forsythe, who beat his high school and collegiate personal records.

“Specifically Tristan I thought ran a great race. He ran the last 1,000 meters by himself, and he was lapping a lot of the field, so he had to run wide, so he really ran extra distance in the last K. He won by 22 seconds; that’s a pretty commanding win. That was a huge PR [compared to his high school times],” Bonsey said in an interview with The Hoya.  

Senior Joe White, who finished first overall in the 400m event with a time of 47.94, gained another victory for Georgetown. Bonsey was impressed by his performance, especially considering the 400m event is not White’s principal focus.

“[The] 400 is not his primary event, and this fall we have been focused on base training, so we have been doing longer work than he’s used to. [It’s] certainly not stuff that’s going to benefit [him] for a 400, so the fact that he went out running 47.94, not using starting blocks, was really good. Joe is in fantastic shape, [and] breaking 48 this time of year was a very, very good sign,” Bonsey said.

The men’s and women’s teams will return to the track in six weeks, when they will compete in the Penn State Nittany Lion Challenge on Jan. 12.

Bonsey remains positive for the men’s track team this upcoming season.

“I think the team is in a great spot, specifically those middle-distance runners,” Bonsey said. “I thought coming into the year that we had the best men’s middle-distance roster in the country, and the guys have trained really hard this fall.”