After an impressive opening at the Colonial Relays at the College of William and Mary, Georgetown track and field was snowed out of action on Saturday.
On Friday, the Georgetown women finished the day in first place, while the men placed third. First-place finishes by Ashley Hubbard in the 800-meter (2:08.65) and Buky Bamigboye in the 400m hurdles (1:00.55) led the way for the women, as they recorded six NCAA East regional championship qualifying marks.
“The 800 is where Ashley is going to have her highest level of success,” Director of Track and Field Ron Helmer said. “She also runs well in the 400, and sometimes you get in trouble with focusing on just one event, but we hope to see her make an impact on the national scene in the 800.”
In the 1500m, Hilary Bontz (4:25.25), Joanna Rodgers (4:25.54), Elizabeth Maloy (4:26.03) and Renee Tomlin (4:26.93) all recorded regional qualifying marks. Redshirt sophomore Maggie Infeld had a standout finish as well in her season opener, placing seventh at 4:28.82.
“All our girls ran well in the 1500, and it was great to see Maggie run so well after coming off a redshirt,” Helmer said. “Elizabeth scored at the NCAAs last year, and the other girls are coming around in a bunch of events.”
Seniors Nichole Torpey and Jayne Penn finished back to back in the 400m with Torpey qualifying for the ECACs with a time of 56.13 to place third, while Penn was fourth with a conference time of 56.66.
The men also excelled in the 1500m race with sophomore Andrew Bumbalough placing third and redshirt freshman Levi Miller coming in fourth. Bumbalough ran 3:47.82, while Miller was close behind at 3:47.91, both qualifying for the IC4A championship.
“Both Andrew and Levi ran well out at Stanford in the 5,000m, and they got a shot in the 15 on Friday and both nearly ran their best times,” Helmer said.
The best runs of the day for the men came in the 3,000m steeplechase by freshman Dan Gerber and senior Brian Dalpiaz. Both earned regional qualifying marks, as Gerber finished second in the field at 9:04.38, while Dalpiaz was third at 9:05.90.
Sophomore Kenny Mitchell scored for the Hoyas in two events, placing third in the 100m (10.69) and fifth in the 200m (21.90). Classmate Terrell Gissendanner was second in the long jump, clearing 6.99m, and also qualified for Saturday’s final of the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.74 to place third in the trials.
“Terrell’s still got the 110m hurdles school record and our sprinters continue to be Big East qualifiers,” Helmer said.
Georgetown will compete next weekend at both the Sea Ray Relays at the University of Tennessee and Lou Onesty/Milton Abramson Invitational at the University of Virginia.
