hLast Friday was another typical day on the track for junior arni Kruppa, as the three-time All-American slashed her personal record in the 5,000m run by nearly three seconds to earn her second NCAA qualification of the season and highlight a productive weekend of action for the Hoyas Mt. SAC Invitational.

With a time of 16:10.03, Kruppa fell just two seconds short of earning an NCAA automatic qualification, yet the provisionally qualifying mark currently places her third on the national performance list and will likely gain her admission in the event at the national championships June 1.

Kruppa’s 10,000m run at the Stanford Invitational three weeks ago earned her an automatic bid, and she currently holds the second fastest time in the event behind reigning NCAA cross country champion Tara Chaplin of Arizona.

“Marni ran a nice 10,000m early on and has trained very hard since then,” Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Ron Helmer said. “She’s more fit and more race-ready than she’s ever been, and I’m extremely happy with her progress.”

Kruppa’s performances are made even more compelling by the fact that she has grappled with a stress fracture and tendonitis throughout the past two years, which most recently sidelined her this past indoor season. Helmer attributes the progress to Kruppa’s one-of-a-kind work ethic.

“The approach is a lot different [for the 5,000m and 10,000m] than in other events,” Helmer said. “You can’t race all the time, so instead of training by competing you need to simply train and then the competing part becomes very much reflective of the training. There’s a fine line that needs to be walked that separates going forward and staying healthy from getting tired and residual fatigue, but Marni is handling that well and I’m more confident in her ability to deal with it than any other 10,000m runner I’ve ever had.”

While Kruppa stole the spotlight, Georgetown received more championship qualifying performances over the course of the three-day event, and a handful of others at the lower-key Metro Invitational in Emmitsburgh, Md.

At Mt. SAC, sophomore Colleen Kelly recorded 16:45.60 in the 5,000m run to set a personal record and claim sixth place, earning Georgetown another NCAA provisional qualification.

Graduate student Emily Enstice and sophomore Amanda Pape both collected ECAC qualifications, with Enstice timing 4:28.84 in the 1,500m run and Pape crossing the line of the 10,000m run in 35:29.85.

Sophomore Kori Hamilton picked up another ECAC qualifying mark in the 800m run, winning her section in a time of 2:10.56.

“That’s a PR and her second straight really good 800m, so I was very happy with that,” Helmer said.

Freshman Jessica Czervionke led the women at the Metro Invitational, winning the 3,000m steeplechase in a Big East qualifying time of 11:23.98. Freshman Lauren Graham crossed the line 8.59 seconds behind Czervionke for second.

Sophomore Andrew Nolen led the men, winning the 200m dash in 21.85 and claiming runner up honors in the 400m with a time of 48.97. Both performances qualified Nolen for the Big East Championship.

Junior George O’Loughlin timed 3:55.42 for seventh place in the 1,500m run for another Big East qualifying mark.

Freshman Teddy Presley added an IC4A qualifying performance in the triple jump, registering a personal record of 47 feet, three inches.

Next up for the Hoyas are the Penn Relays, a four-day meet which begins this Thursday.