Alison Wade/New York Road Runners Junior Jesse O’Connell ran the Hoyas to second place in the last leg of the 4 x 800m.

The Georgetown track and field program wanted to add a victory lap or two to its trip to Philadelphia last weekend for the Penn Relays, but that didn’t stop the Hoyas from showcasing their talents in front of the largest crowd of the season.

On Saturday, led by a second-place finish in the men’s 4 x 800m and a third-place finish in the women’s 4 x 800m, Georgetown demonstrated its power in the middle distances in front of a crowd of 39,783. Last year at the event the men won the 4 x 800m title and the women placed second to Florida in a dramatic neck-and-neck finish. This year Georgetown set out to prove that last year’s accomplishments were no fluke.

“On the men’s side, as the defending champion, it was really important that if we didn’t win, then we didn’t finish any lower than second,” Associate Head Coach Andrew Valmon said. “We didn’t want [last year’s Penn Relays 4 x 800m victory] to be a one-race wonder, so this year, coming in second proved that we belonged up there.”

Freshman Stanley Lagrenade led off this year’s 4 x 800m, passed the baton to junior Ali Najjar, who ran the team’s fastest split in 1:47.7, and senior Dylan Welsh kept the team among the leaders in the third leg. Junior Jesse O’Connell closed out the race with a 1:48.6 anchor leg for an overall time of 7:18.61, which placed Georgetown second only to Arkansas’ 7:16.09.

“I think we were probably just a few exchanges away,” Valmon said. “I think we had a poor exchange on one of the handoffs, and if we would have been able to capitalize on that, then we would have been close and made it a tough race. But hats off to Arkansas – they put together a pretty solid group of kids that ran well.”

One of the most encouraging aspects of the race was that, although it didn’t win, the team was able to defeat several of the nation’s top teams.

“We beat a really good Kentucky team that had been running well all year,” Valmon said. “They had, going into the meet, about seven guys who ran 1:50 or better, so on paper, they clearly had the best team.”

The women’s 4 x 800m also provided one of the team’s highlights.

“The 4 x 800m was probably our best relay in terms of being solid from the beginning to the end,” Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Ron Helmer said.

Senior sprinter Jamillah Bowman expanded her usual range to lead off the 4 x 800m. Junior Kori Hamilton ran a 2:07.9 second leg, and junior Maura McCusker timed 2:08.1 in the third leg. Junior Treniere Clement anchored the team in 2:09.0 for a third-place overall finish.

Georgetown’s 4 x 400m relay teams both registered second-place finishes in the ECAC/IC4A sections. Junior Monica Hargrove ran a 52.9 anchor to lead the women, while freshman Stanley Lagrenade opened the men’s 4 x 400m with a team-best 46.4 split. Seniors Michael Williams and Robert Wingate-Robinson and junior Ali Najjar comprised the rest of the men’s 4 x 400m team, while Hamilton, Bowman and freshman Meghan O’Neil ran on the women’s 4 x 400m team.

Seniors Dylan Welsh and Emily Reaman and sophomore Nat Glackin and Colleen Kelly all set new personal records at Penn Relays.

Welsh ran the 1,200m leg of the men’s distance medley relay in 2:54, Reaman ran a 4:32 split on the women’s 4 x 1,500m, Glackin set a new personal record in the 800m, and Kelly crossed the line of the 5,000m in a NCAA Regional qualifying time of 16:42.22.

Georgetown’s lone competitor in the field events, senior Davin Williams, placed ninth overall in the triple jump with a mark of 48 feet, 4 3/4 inches.

The Hoyas also sent a group of athletes to compete at the Virginia Tech Invitational, where the team received several standout performances.

Junior Andrew Nolen was the first collegiate finisher in the 200m, and with a time of 21.56, qualified for the IC4A Championships and set a new personal record.

Freshman Kim Malcolm qualified for the Big East Championships in the 3,000m steeplechase, as did sophomore Erica Derrickson, who cleared 3.6m in the pole vault. Junior Rose Wetzel claimed victories in both the 800m and 1,500m, and her time of 4:35.98 also met Big East qualifying standards.

The team will travel to Storrs, Conn. this weekend for the Big East Championships.