The Georgetown University track and field team competed at the NCAA indoor national championships in Virginia Beach, Va., where they came away with a new indoor men’s mile champion March 14 and 15.
The Hoyas sent 12 athletes to compete in six events, qualifying for the finals in all six. The team came away with three first-team All-American honors. The star of the show was graduate middle distance specialist Abel Teffra, who kicked to victory in the men’s mile, setting a new NCAA indoor championship meet record in the process.
The team qualified a distance-heavy squad for the championships, sending a distance medley relay (DMR) squad on both the men’s and women’s squads, graduate Lucy Jenks and senior Chloe Scrimgeour in the women’s 5000-meter, senior Melissa Riggins in the women’s mile, sophomore Tinoda Matsatsa in the men’s 800 and Teffra in the men’s mile.
In order to qualify for the indoor NCAA championships, an athlete must post a qualifying time during the qualification window — Nov. 29 to March 2 — and the athlete must also hold one of the top 16 times during that season for an individual event and top 12 for a relay event. Thus, despite 13 individual Hoyas securing Big East Indoor Championship titles two weeks prior, only 12 athletes represented Georgetown at the NCAA championship. Even though graduate sprinter Rebecca Ochan placed first in both the 200-meter and 400-meter at the Big East championship, she did not earn a place at the NCAA championships in either event. Ochan, however, competed at NCAAs as the 400 leg of the DMR.
As a program, the Georgetown men tied for a 14th place finish out of 56 teams scoring points at this year’s indoor championships, with Teffra and Matsata scoring all the team’s points, climbing 7 spots above their 21st place finish last year. The women’s program tied for a 50th place finish out of 61 teams scoring points, a sharp dip from last year where they placed 23rd.
Matsata placed fourth in the 800 at NCAAs, finishing with a time of 1:47.05. Earlier in the season, Matsata had immense success in the 800, posting the second-fastest collegiate time of the season and winning the Big East conference championships in a meet record of 1:46.10. Riggins finished seventh in the mile at NCAAs with a time of 4:35.06. In February, Riggins ran the fifth fastest collegiate indoor mile in history and the third fastest time of the season in a time of 4:24.98.
Scrimgeour and Jenks placed ninth and 11th, respectively, in the 5000, with Scrimgeour setting a school record of 15:14. The DMR men’s and women’s squads finished in 12th and 11th, respectively, out of 12 teams. Last year, the Georgetown men finished in second place, marking a steady decline in their performance in the event.
While the Hoyas may have underperformed in most events, Teffra did not disappoint. In his final indoor season with the Hoyas, Teffra showed continued dominance, placing first in every mile event he contested. The only individual event Teffra did not win this season was the Nittany Lion Challenge 1000-meter, where he followed fellow Hoya Matsatsa to secure the second-fastest collegiate 1000 time in history.
Taking it step by step, Teffra secured a second place seeding in the mile final after running the fastest time in his prelim heat. This 2nd place seeding found him on the outer lanes of the event’s waterfall start.
When the contestants cut to the middle around the 200-meter mark, Teffra found himself towards the back of the pack. Teffra then moved up along the outside into fifth through 800 meters as the field started to slow and bunch. In the sixth lap of the eight-lap race, University of Washington’s Nathan Green, who posted the fastest time in the group for the season, made a move to the front, and Teffra immediately followed.
Rounding the bend of the 1200-meter mark, Teffra found his way into second, continually pushing up the outside. In the final lap of the race, with less than 150 meters to go, Teffra made a push for first on the outside of Green. The two battled it out around the curves before Teffra out-kicked Green on the final straightaway to come away with the title in an NCAA meet record of 3:53.60, ending Washington’s bid for a three-peat in the event.
This decisive win by Teffra marks the second-ever NCAA indoor mile title for the Hoyas. The last came in 1987, when Mike Stahr won in 4:02.33. Teffra’s win also marks the first NCAA indoor championship win for the men’s track and field team since 1992.
Teffra’s win was a long time coming. Prior to this indoor season, Teffra’s only appearance in an NCAA track championship was last year’s indoor championship, when he placed fifth in the mile. This season also marked Teffra’s first individual Big East title, after securing gold as part of the 4×800 team at both the Big East indoor and outdoor championships in 2022.
This season also marked Teffra’s first indoor lean towards the mile, as he competed primarily in the 800 indoors in years prior. In elite-level distance track, a runner must first have the necessary speed to keep up with the pack to kick and win, the timing of which is crucial. Teffra built the speed over his years at Georgetown, and showcased it at the NCAA Indoor Championships in combination with his strategic dominance.
The Hoyas will now gear up for their outdoor season as they look to the outdoor NCAA championships slated for world-renowned Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. in June. Georgetown will open their outdoor season March 27-29 at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C. There, they will look to capitalize on their successful indoor season and translate it outdoors.
