Georgetown Men, Women Crowned Big East Champions

The men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams dominated the Big East Championships last weekend at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y., capturing six first place finishes and returning home with a pair of conference titles.

The women’s team, ranked 16th in the nation, scored 111 points to defeat second place Pittsburgh (94).

The men’s squad tallied 130.5 points to top runner-up Seton Hall (90). The wins marked the women’s fifth Big East championship, the first since 1998, and the men’s 11th team crown.

With the victory, the men have now earned four consecutive titles, and seven over the last eight years.

The Hoyas had two individual Big East champions on the first day of competition, with senior Sean Flynn winning his third consecutive shot put title in the 35 pound weight throw, and sophomore Marni Kruppa placing first in the 5,000-meter run. Kruppa’s time of 16 minutes 27.93 seconds marked a personal best, improving her time in the event by nearly 10 seconds.

Flynn, who fouled on his first two attempts, hurled the 35 pound weight 62 feet, 8 inches in his final attempt to earn the victory.

“Sean set the tone early in the meet,” Associate Head Coach Andrew Valmon said. “Knowing that it was all going down to his final throw, he showed a lot of strength and inner-fortitude. He stepped up and made it look easy.”

Other strong performances on the first day came from senior Corey Smith and sophomore Mike Smith, who raced to second and fourth place finishes, respectively, in the 5,000-meter run, while junior long jumper Davin Williams and the men’s distance medley relay team both recorded second place finishes.

The women’s distance medley relay team also finished in second place, with an NCAA qualifying time of 11:34.59, and senior Emily Enstice ran a personal best in the 5,000-meter run to claim third place.

On the second day of competition, senior Sasha Spencer carried the Hoyas to top finishes in two events. She set a Big East meet record in the 500-meter dash, winning the race in 1:10.55, and along with sophomore Jamillah Bowman, senior Nickay Penado and freshman Kori Hamilton, produced an NCAA provisionally qualifying time in the 4 x 400-meter relay to take home another title. The four’s time of 3:39.89 set another Big East record.

“Winning is one thing, but breaking a meet record is indicative of a great performance” Director of Track and Field Ron Helmer said. “Sasha had an incredible meet, and everyone put it all together behind her. It was a great team effort.”

Building upon Saturday’s second place performance in the distance medley relay, team members senior Heather Blackard and sophomores Erin Sicher and Jill Laurendeau continued to post impressive marks.

Sicher took second place in the mile run, while freshman Treniere Clement, Blackard and Laurendeau finished three-four-five in the 1,000-meter run. The team of Clement, Laurendeau, Blackard and Sicher also timed 8:55.77 for second place in the 4 x 800-meter relay.

Other point-scoring efforts on Sunday included Kruppa and Enstice in the 3,000-meter run, junior Tyrona Heath in the 800-meter run, and senior Lorena Adams and freshman Colleen Kelly in the mile.

On the men’s side, sophomore James Graham and junior Davin Williams earned another pair of Big East Championships for the Hoyas. Graham clocked 1:03.21 to win the 500-meter run, and Williams posted a leap of 49.25 feet to take first in the triple jump.

Along with earlier performances in the long jump and high jump, Williams earned the Hoyas 18.5 points throughout three events.

“Davin was our team MVP in the meet,” Coach Valmon said. “With [senior] Nathan Rollins red-shirting, Davin realized that things would have to start and end with him. He understood he needed to step up, and he did. Eighteen and a half are a lot of points to score in the field events for just one person.”

In the 4 x 400-meter relay, the team of Graham, sophomore Robert Wingate-Robinson, junior Hakim Johnson and senior Nick Reynolds timed 3:15.56 for second place. In an unusual race, Graham fell early on, but the team regrouped, and Reynolds ran a 46.6 second anchor leg to lead the team to its second place finish. Reynolds went on to post a second place individual finish in the 400-meter dash as well.

Wingate-Robinson ran a personal best of 21.60 in the 200-meter dash to earn third place, and senior Isidro Pimentel recorded a second place finish 800-meter run.

Junior Chris Miltenberg, who holds the league’s fastest time in the mile run, took second place in the event on Sunday with a time of 4:10.43. Senior Matt Dunn followed to take fourth in 4:14.25.

Miltenberg, freshman Jesse O’Connell and sophomores Dylan Welsh and Ezra Richards earned the Hoyas a fourth place finish in the 4 x 800-meter relay. Individually, O’Connell and Welsh took third and fifth, respectively, in the 1,000-meter run.

After the convincing conference victory, the Hoyas will hope to continue their momentum going into next month’s IC4A/ECAC and NCAA Championships. Next week, the Hoyas will compete in meets at Blacksburg Va. and Prince George’s County, Md.