Ahead of the Big East Indoor Championships two weeks from now, Georgetown is running on all cylinders. At the Giegengack Invitational at Yale University this weekend, the Hoyas posted four NCAA provisional qualifying times and won seven events in a near-dominant performance.
Junior Matt Debole and redshirt freshman Levi Miller went one-two in the mile, both running NCAA provisional qualifying times. Debole’s performance was distinctive, breaking both the meet and facility (Coxe Cage) record with a time of 4:01.52. iller finished in 4:03.06.
“We have a great history in the mile, and Debole’s time placed him in the top 10 all time here at Georgetown,” Director of Track and Field Ron Helmer said. “It was a solid performance by both guys.”
Georgetown swept the 3,000-meter, taking the top seven spots with seven IC4A qualifying times. Redshirt sophomore Michael Banks led the pack of Hoyas, setting a meet record with his time of 8:08.54.
“It would’ve been good for that group to run against more competition, but those seven guys performed really well, six coming in between 8:08 and 8:12,” Helmer said.
Graduate student Stanley Lagrenade led the Hoyas in the men’s 800m, placing second in 1:51.00. Freshmen Alex Bean and Danny Harris were fourth and fifth, respectively, posting times of 1:53.82 and 1:54.14.
Sophomore Kenny Mitchell placed fourth in the 60m dash (6.96) and sixth in the 200m (22.20). Fellow sophomore Terrell Gissendanner was second in the 60m hurdles and fifth in the long jump.
The women recorded two national qualifiers at the Giegengack in redshirt junior Elizabeth Maloy and junior Ashley Hubbard. Maloy won the 3,000m in 9:31.55, followed by teammates sophomores Natasha Labeaud and Ovril Lagrodnick, both of whom qualified for the ECAC Championships with their performances.
“Elizabeth ran very well, posting a great time that may or may not hold up for NCAA qualifying,” Helmer said.
Hubbard led the Hoyas in the 800m as the team took the first four places in the event. She ran a personal record of 2:08.61, followed by senior Nana Hanson-Hall, freshman Renee Tomlin and sophomore Christine Whalen.
“Ashley runs the 400m, mostly, so for her to step up and race that well was great for our team,” Helmer said.
Like the men, the women had an impressive team performance in the mile, taking seven of the top 13 spots. Junior Joanna Rodgers missed an NCAA provisional mark by 0.19, but still managed to post a winning time of 4:48.19.
South of the Gigengack, a quartet of Hoyas competed at the 100th illrose games at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The 4x800m relay team of Harris, Maloy, Lagrenade and sophomore Brandon Bonsey finished third overall in a competitive field.
“Those guys ran well given the circumstances,” Helmer said. “It’s a difficult meet given it’s the same weekend as the Giegengack, and the relay we sent slipped a little in the beginning but finished well.”
Even the Hoya coaching staff has gotten in on the winning act. Over the span of two weeks, Assistant Coach Monica Hargrove has blazed her way onto the national scene. At the Gigengack Invitational this weekend, Hargrove ran the second-fastest 500m time for an American. Hargrove’s time of 1:09.06 is second only to Jearl Miles-Clark’s 1:08.71, set in 2004 in Happy Valley, Pa. It was the second straight impressive performance for the former three-time All-American Hargrove, who won the 400m at the Boston Indoor Games on Jan. 29.
Despite the recent victories and qualifying times, Helmer sees the next two weeks and one meet as a warm-up for the tough conference championships on Feb. 17.
“This weekend produced some good races in preparation for the Big East,” Helmer said.
Georgetown runs this weekend at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup in State College, Pa.
