Georgetown started the new year on the right foot last weekend at the Father Diamond Invitational at George Mason University.

On the women’s side, the Hoyas collected a total of 11 qualifying marks. Senior Nana Hanson-Hall was one of the champions, winning the 500-meter dash in 1:14.57. Freshman Renee Tomlin finished a close second, with a time of 1:17.15.

“Nana ran a great race, it’s a very good early season time,” Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Ron Helmer said.

Senior Kandance Ferguson won the 400m dash in a time of 56.43, her third conference-qualifying mark of the young season. Ferguson returned with Hanson-Hall, junior Ashley Hubbard and senior Nichole Torpey to win the 4x400m relay, improving on their earlier season time of 3:47.26.

Hubbard went on to finish second in the 800m run with a time of 2:16.95, behind red shirt classmate Maggie Infeld who won the race in 2:15.55.

In the longer distances, the Hoyas also showed their strength. Sophomore Avril Ogrodnick and Joanna Rodgers, a junior, finished in first and second place with times of 4:58.02 and 4:59.31. Sophomore Lise Ogrodnick placed third in the 1000 run in an ECAC qualifying time of 2:57.23.

Sophomore Buky Bamigboye scored points in the long jump and finished in second place with a leap of 5.88 meters, an ECAC-qualifying distance. The Hoyas showed their presence in the triple jump event as senior Ashley Mondie and junior Alex Baptiste finished third and fifth. Mondie qualified for the ECAC championships with a jump of 11.75 meters while Baptiste earned a Big East qualifying mark with her leap of 11.34 meters.

On the men’s side, the Hoyas showed early signs of strength with their own impressive performances. Sophomore Kenny itchell finished as the first collegian in both the 60m dash and the 200m dash with respective times of 6.89 seconds and 22.19 seconds. Both performances were IC4A-qualifying marks.

Fellow Sophomore Terrell Gissendanner led the field events effort with his double performance in the long jump and the 60m high hurdles. He jumped to a fist place finish in the long jump with a leap of 7.13 meters, an IC4A-qualifying mark. He also ran to a fourth place finish in the hurdles with a time of 8.18 seconds, also an IC4A qualifier.

“Kenny had a great opener, his 200m time was very good considering it is a flat track,” Helmer said.

The Hoyas posted a number of impressive early season marks in the longer distance events. In the 1000m run, junior red shirt Brandon Bonsey finished second in a time of 2:27.88, while freshman Alex Bean was right in third place behind in 2:28.08, a speedy debut.

“I was very pleased with the guys in the 1000m race. It was a p[ersonal] r[ecord] for Brandon, and this was Alex’s first indoor race,” Assistant Coach Pat Henner said.

Senior Andre Laboy sped to a 4:09.70 clocking in the mile, good for third place and an IC4A-qualifying mark. Junior red shirt Justin Scheid finished behind in 4:15.73 in fourth place. Scheid’s mark is a conference qualifying mark.

“Andre went out there and ran a very strong race, where he stayed competitive,” Henner said. “He’s starting to demonstrate the potential we know he has.”

Senior Stanley Lagrenade posted the Hoyas’ fourth win of the meet with a 1:57.55 finish in the 800meter run.

The Hoyas continue their 2007 indoor campaign at the Virginia Tech Invitational in Blacksburg, Va. today and tomorrow.