TRACK & FIELD | Georgetown Grabs 10 Top-3 Finishes at Penn State National, Indiana Relays

The Georgetown men and women’s track and field team sent competitors to two different meets over the weekend, garnering a total of five first-place finishes between both meets. While select men and women traveled to Bloomington, Ind., for the Indiana Relays, the remaining men and women’s team took to the road to compete at the Penn State National in State College, Pa. on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

On the first day of the Penn State National, the men’s team’s first-place finish came from senior Dylan Scarsone, who secured top marks with a time of 14:39 in the 5000-meter race, beating out his 19 competitors.

The women’s distance medley relay team of graduate student Alie Fordyce, freshman Maya Drayton, junior Lexi Del Gizzo and sophomore Sami Corman also took home the top spot in their event, crossing the line in 11:26.

On Friday, Jan. 31, junior Cassidy Palmer posted a season-best 7.86 seconds in the 60-meter dash at the Penn State National, finishing in 32nd place overall. In the 60-meter hurdles, junior Malika Houston finished in 8.97 seconds in the preliminaries and 9.14 in the semifinals to claim 16th place.

In the field, freshman Aniella Delafosse jumped 5.51 meters for a 15th-place finish in long jump, while Houston jumped 5.19m to claim a 24th-place finish. Sophomore Eni Akinniyi and freshman Lyric Harris both placed among the top 20 for triple jump. For the men, junior Josiah Laney jumped 6.78m for a 15th-place finish in the long jump.

GUHoyas | Junior middle distance runner Ruach Padhal finishes his race strong at an indoor meet. In State College, Pa., Padhal earned a third-place finish in the 800-meter run invitational with a time of 1:50.42 before claiming fourth as part of the 4×400-meter relay at 3:17.07.

After wrapping up day one of competition, the Hoyas returned to State College on the second day with similar success. Junior Olivia Arizin nabbed another first-place finish for the Blue and Gray with a winning time of 1:34 in the 600-meter race. Freshman Malia Anderson came in two seconds behind Arizin at 1:36 to grab an eighth-place finish. In the 600-meter invitational race, Del Gizzo ran 1:33, securing third place.

Sophomore Katie Dammer won the 1-mile race with a personal best time of 4:52.91 among seven other competitors in the event, marking her first indoor competition of the 2019-20 season. Freshman Kate Tavella followed Dammer with a 5:05 mile, placing her in eighth place overall. In the invitational mile, senior Margie Cullen recorded a 4:57 mile to earn fifth place.

Senior Eion Nohilly followed Dammer’s performance in the 1-mile event by besting his 18 opponents to take first in the men’s 1 mile with a time of 4:13, rounding out the competition with five first-place finishes.

Sophomore Tristan Forsythe closely tailed Nohilly in the 1 mile, finishing in 4:05 to claim second place and beat his previous personal best in the mile by nearly five seconds. Freshman Tim McInerney ended the race in 4:11 for 11th place, and freshman Jantz Tostenson finished shortly behind in 4:13 to claim 12th.

In the 300m race, Drayton managed to run a 39.34 in a field of 18 other competitors to secure second place. Drayton’s time puts her in second place all-time for Georgetown, gaining praise from Director of Track & Field Julie Culley.

“Certainly one of the biggest highlights of the weekend was Maya Drayton’s No. 2 all-time stellar performance in the 300-meter dash,” Culley said in an interview with GU Hoyas. “Her second-place finish of 39.34 is now in Georgetown’s record books, which is a huge feat for a freshman.”

In the men’s 300-meter dash, junior Nate Alleyne finished in 34.69 for a fourth-place finish while sophomore D’Andre Barriffe came in behind at 35.11 to earn ninth place. Freshman Malachi Quarles rounded out the field for the Hoyas with a time of 36.99 for a 14th-place finish.

Over in Indiana, five Hoyas competed at the Indiana Relays. Junior Lawrence Leake ran a 21.67 200-meter dash, landing him in fifth overall while senior Kenny Rowe ran 1:51 for a sixth-place finish in the 800-meter dash.

In the mile, sophomore Maazin Ahmed ran 4:06 and placed sixth, graduate student Spencer Brown was close behind with 4:07 and an 11th-place finish, and freshman Matthew Payamps took 13th, crossing the line in 4:09.

In the distance medley relay, Payamps, Leake, Rowe and Brown finished in 9:41, garnering a sixth-place finish.

The Blue and Gray came away from the weekend with 10 top-three finishes as it looks toward the rest of its spring season.

The Hoyas will be back in action on the road again Feb. 14 in Boston, Mass. at the Boston University Valentine’s Day Invitational.