Georgetown freshman Franklyn Sanchez broke track and cross country legend Steve Prefontaine’s 1970 American Junior record in the 5000-meter run when the Georgetown men’s and women’s outdoor track and field teams competed at the Stanford Track & Field Invitational at Cobb Track & Angell Field in Palo Alto, Calif. last Saturday. By far the most notable performance of the day was Sanchez finished the race in 13:38.39, topping Prefontaine’s record by eight tenths of a second. Prefontaine’s record had stood at 13:39.6 for 31 years ever since he set it July 16, 1970, in Stuttgart, Germany.
Sanchez has raced phenomenally thus far and has three more full seasons of track and cross country in his future at Georgetown. He was a tremendous boost to the Cross Coun-try team in the fall, and his fifth place in the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA Cross Country Championship earned him All-American status. He also helped the Hoyas to victory in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Championships with a sixth place finish. The Big East Championship for cross country saw Sanchez finish in an astounding third place, also helping his team win the Big East title.
Sanchez only started running track during his sophomore year of high school to get in shape for baseball. By his junior year, Sanchez was named 1997 Boston Globe Division II Cross Country Runner of the Year and was well on his way to becoming to excellent runner he is today.
The men’s team competed in the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter events. Sanchez finished third in the 5,000-meter race and was followed by his teammate Corey Smith in 14th place with a time of 14:09.98. In the 10,000-meter, senior David Rodriguez placed 24th with the outstanding time of 29:23.00, followed by teammates sophomore Mike Smith in 33rd, and senior Kyle Smits in 54th place.
The women’s team also only competed in the two long distance running events. The 5,000-meter race saw freshman Colleen Kelly posting an impressive 16:58.42, good enough to earn her 36th place in the final standings. The 10,000-meter event had four competitors from Georgetown, and saw up-and-coming star sophomore arni Kruppa place 9th with the time of 33:49.54. Following behind in fairly close formation was senior Lorena Adams in 24th (34:55.41), senior Emily Enstice in 31st (35:34.40) and senior Amanda Pape in 34th (25:58.24).
The “B” teams for both the Men’s and Women’s teams raced at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C. Next up on the schedule for Georgetown’s Outdoor Track Team is competition at the Duke Relays today, April 6 and tomorrow, April 7.
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