The Georgetown men’s track and field team opened their indoor season at the Navy Invitational Friday, while the women jump started their season at Bucknell’s Bison Opener Saturday. The Hoyas’ performance was marked by some impressive early season times, including a handful of Big East and IC4A/ECAC qualifying times.

Senior Tommy Manning led the men’s team, clocking a winning 1:53.14 in the 800 meter. His time qualified him for the Big East championships and the IC4A championships.

Senior Jesse Patterson also earned two Big East qualifying marks, one in the long jump, and the other in the 55m hurdles. He jumped 22 feet 9 inches to place second in the long jump, and raced through the hurdles in 7.98 seconds.

“I was real happy with Jesse, he had a great performances,” the Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Ron Helmer said, “He even hit his knee on a hurdle and still qualified for Big East.”

Freshman Kenny Mitchell managed an impressive 6.47 seconds for the 55m dash, earning himself a trip to the Big East championships too.

“I was really impressed by Kenny. He got the job done and is a potential Big East scorer in an area where we need it,” Helmer said.

Sophomores Justin Scheid and Brandon Bonsey also posted qualifying marks with their respective fifth- and sixth-place finishes in the 3000m run, with times of 8:32.31 seconds and 8:35.36 respectively.

Senior Jarod Jenkins also posted a sixth-place finish in his event, the 400m dash, with a time of 51.18 seconds.

The women kicked off their season the next day, highlighted by the quick 1000m run by junior Nana Hanson-Hall. Hall finished in first place to record a time of 2:51.87, a personal best. Sophomore aggie Infeld, fresh off an impressive cross country season, finished behind Hall in second place with a time of 2:56.40. Both girls qualified for the Big East championships and the ECAC championships.

“Nana ran a great race, I was really happy with her time,” Helmer said.

Freshman Sable Sweeper broke the school record in the shotput in her debut as a Hoya with an impressive throw of 39 feet 2 1/4 inches.

Junior Ashley Mondie joined Sweeper in the field, competing in the long jump and earning a trip to the Big East Championship with a personal-best jump of 18 feet 1 ½ inches.

“Ashley looks like she’s in great shape, just by looking at her approach down the runway, she right where she needs to be,” Helmer said.

Junior Kandace Ferguson had an impressive double as she ran a personal best time in the 60m dash of 7.83 seconds – good enough for a Big East qualifying mark – and then took second place in the 500m with a Big East and ECAC qualifying mark of 1:15.95.

Sophomore Ashley Hubbard stepped up her distance from her normal 400m race to an 800m race. The change apparently paid off, as Hubbard won her race in a time of 2:20.57.

Sophomore Alex Baptiste, Hubbard, Ferguson and Hall combined to win the 1600m relay, posting a Big East and ECAC qualifying time of 3:51.75 in the process.

“It was a typical early season meet,” Helmer said. “We’re entering a very important training phase and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”