Alison Wade/New York Road Runners Sophomore distance runner Nicole Lee sets the pace. She ran the 10,000m in 34:26.

Last Thursday, just as most Georgetown students were beginning to settle in for a relaxing Easter break, sophomores Rod Koborsi and Nicole Lee were successfully battling their way through collegiate track and field’s most grueling event.

Both athletes earned NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the 10,000m – which, by virtue of its length, is the only event exempt from the NCAA’s new regional qualifying system. The provisional marks can translate into bids to nationals providing that the field of each race is not already filled with athletes ranked higher on the NCAA performance list.

Lee completed the women’s 10,000m in 34:26. The mark is short of her personal record of 34:11, but fell easily within the NCAA provisional requirement of 35:15.

“Nicole did a really nice job,” Assistant Coach Juli Henner said. “She got a provisional, and I think it will probably be on the bubble as to whether or not she gets in [to the NCAA Championships] with that time.”

The race pitted Lee against a field of 17 runners that included several post-collegians and international competitors, as well as a handful of the NCAA’s top contenders. She placed ninth overall.

“Nicole got in a really, really fast heat and I think the early pace was a bit over her head, but she handled it really well,” Henner said. “I think there were a few laps in there that were a little slower than she wanted to run, but in the end, the last mile, she really got it going again and got right back on pace.” Koborsi’s time of 29:00.41 in the men’s 10,000m also met NCAA provisional requirements, and was just 0.41 seconds short of the automatic qualifying mark. The race, which is the first 10,000m of Koborsi’s career, places him No. 4 on Georgetown’s all-time record list in the event.

“Rod ran a really smart, controlled race, finished it strong and ran a time that should get him into the NCAA meet,” Men’s Cross Country and Distance Coach Patrick Henner said.

Historically, 20 athletes have been admitted to run each season in the 10,000m at the NCAA Championships, but this year, with the new qualifying system, the field has been expanded to 28 runners.

Koborsi’s time is almost assured to gain him entry to the national meet, but Lee’s mark is much less certain. According to Henner, the caliber of the field likely had an affect on each athlete’s results.

“The 10,000m is something where you need a really good situation, and for Rod it worked out really well – he had people to run with the whole way, and some people to race with. Nicole kind of got caught in the situation in the last couple of miles where she really didn’t have anybody to run with, so her pace slowed a little bit after the four-mile mark. But then she rallied and finished it pretty well. I think the difference between her running what she did and running a PR was just a little better situation for her in those last couple miles. Fourteen or 15 seconds is really not that much in that race for a girl at that pace, and I think that she can run even faster if she has the right situation.”

Georgetown competed in just two events at the meet, and senior Javon Broderick followed the Hoyas’ success in the 10,000m with an NCAA regional qualifying performance in the 5,000m.

Broderick posted a time of 14:22.46 for 27th place among the race’s 44-runner field.

“Javon hit the regional qualifying time, which was our main goal. It wasn’t a smooth race, and there were a lot of changes in paces, and I think Javon is definitely capable of running faster, but that was our main goal in going out there – to the get the regional qualifying standard out of the way,” Henner said.

Broderick will compete in the 4 x 1,500m when the team travels to Philadelphia this weekend for the Penn Relays. Last year, Georgetown claimed the men’s 4 x 800m Championship of America at Penn Relays, and returns every member of that team again this season.