Georgetown track and field was split across the country this weekend, with some members of the squad heading west to compete in University of Washington’s Husky Invitational and others staying in the area for the Doc Hale Virginia Tech Elite meet in the final weekend before the Big East Indoor Championships.
The men’s distance squad stole the spotlight in the Evergreen State, with two All-Americans, senior Andrew Springer and graduate student Mark Dennin, returning to competition after a week off and running some solid 5000m times.
“I think that Springer and Dennin ran really good races. I think that they are both capable of running faster, though,” Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Patrick Henner said. “There were a lot of people in the race, and they were working way too hard in the second mile. They never were able to settle in, and so their last two laps were not as fast as they could have been. I was very pleased with their efforts, however.”
The large field size was definitely a challenge to manage, as Springer and Dennin found themselves running in a large pack in about 20th place after the mile mark. In the second mile, Springer andDennin had to move up into better position, which took a significant amount of energy to execute and probably cost them some time. However, Springer ended up running 13:51, and Dennin was close behind with 13:54. Springer’s time was the fourth-fastest in Georgetown history, while Dennin’s 13:54 was the seventh fastest, beating his own best which had previously held that distinction.
“I would say the theme is ‘close but not quite there’ for the men’s team for this meet — I think our guys are all ready to run faster,” Henner said.
Women’s distance also performed well out West, particularly in the 3000m.
Sophomore Katrina Coogan led the charge for the Hoyas in the 3000m, taking fifth place overall in 9:04. Junior Madeline Chambers, who took 10th in 9:09, followed her, and senior Rachel Schneider was next across, claiming 15th in 9:17. noted that the women’s race plan called for getting out quickly at the gun and holding in the top five places. Coogan did an especially good job of this, keeping an even pace most of the way and finishing strongly.
“Katrina Coogan definitely had the performance of the weekend for the team,” Henner said. “9:04 is pretty darn special — it’s a great time and the No. 2 time in Georgetown history.”
On the other side of the country, another group of Hoyas was likewise making strides towards the Big East meet.
Just as the women performed in Washington, men’s distance was out in force at the Virginia Tech meet, with a number of athletes placing in the top 10 of the mile run. Senior Bobby Peavey won the race with a time of 4:08, junior Michael Reher took third in 4:10, and sophomores John Murray and Collin Leibold placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in 4:11. Sophomore Ryan Gil, meanwhile, took ninth in 4:13.
These standout performances are made only more impressive considering that the athletes had spent the week training for a Saturday meet in Boston before the snowstorm in New England forced them to move to a Friday evening meet in Virginia instead.
“Peavey is ready to run around a four-minute mile — he just needs to be in the right race in the right situation — and all the guys really put in a great effort in the mile,” Henner said.
Next weekend is the Big East Indoor Championships, meaning that the full squad will be united again in Cleveland, Ohio, to compete for conference honors.
Asked about his team’s preparation for that meet, Henner explained that there would be nothing out of the ordinary this week in terms of training.
“Most of the athletes raced this past weekend, so we’re going to do a workout on Tuesday of this week but pretty much just rest after that,” he said.
