As midseason becomes a distant memory and the championship season looms ahead, the Georgetown track and field team stepped up its intensity this weekend at the Armory Collegiate Invitational in New York City. Running at the New Balance Armory Track and Field Center, said to be the “fastest track in the world,” the Hoyas supported this claim as they turned in stellar performances. Being one of the premiere meets of the season, the Hoyas competed against some of the top collegians in the country to earn many personal-bests and a number of NCAA qualifying marks.
This overall team effort was led by a group of impressive performances. Senior Treniere Clement captured gold in the mile run with her personal best of 4:39.49. Clement just missed that automatic NCAA mark of 4:38.50 but comfortably earned a provisional qualifying mark. Senior Colleen Kelly finished third in the same race with another provisional qualifying mark of 4:45.74. Sophomore Kim Malcolm cracked five minutes with her seventh-place time of 4:57.01. Senior Amanda Pape earned her provisional mark in the women’s 3,000m run with a third-place time of 9:32.25.
Georgetown sprinters paralleled the success of their long-distance compatriots as senior Monica Hargrove ran to a NCAA provisional qualifying time, placing seventh in the final of the 400m dash in a personal record of 54.27 seconds. The all-freshman 1,600-meter relay of Nana-Hanson Hall, Jayne Penn, Kandace Ferguson and Nichole Torpey produced the second fastest time of the year for Georgetown as they compiled a team time of 3:49.70.
“These girls are still young but we are trying to help them grow up into our future quarter milers,” Director of Track and Field Pat Helmer said.
The distance medley relay of freshman Elizabeth Maloy, Ferguson, sophomore Meghan O’Neill and sophomore Sabine Knothe came together to garner a third-place finish in a time of 11:41.03. Junior Leilani Greene turned in a solid performance with her eighth-place jump in the pole vault. She soared to a height of 3.45m.
With her third-place finish of 2:09.58, senior Maura McCusker just fell shy of nabbing of the provisional mark of 2:09.00 in a talent-filled 800m race. Senior Jill Laurendeau and Knothe both earned Big East qualifying marks in the same race with their respective times of 2:12.57 and 2:13.46.
On the men’s side, junior Rod Koborsi scorched to an incredible finish in the men’s 3,000m run. Battling down the stretch, he was nipped at the line by Villanova senior Tom Parliapano. Koborsi’s time of 8:02.25 is both a personal best and a provisional NCAA qualifying mark, which he adds to his previous 5,000m provisional mark. “It was definitely the best race of the season so far,” Helmer said.
Sophomore Fleet Hower and freshman Brian Dalpiaz finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the same race with times of 8:15.4 and 8:18.00. Junior Nat Glackin turned in a solid performance with his 1:53.74 in the 800m run, which qualifies him for the Big East Championships. Senior Dan Tebbano and freshman att Debole posted big results in the mile run, both recording personal records. Tebbano ran 4:06.65 and Debole finished in 4:09.99. “This was a personal best for Dan and a great race for Matt. He’s a freshman and still young, not to mention it was his first time ever racing at the Armory. I think they both have much potential for improvement,” Helmer said.
Across the country, at University of Washington’s PAC-10 invitational, sophomore Chris Lukezic ran against a field of mostly professional runners to capture eighth place in the 3,000m run. His time of 8:00.98 is a personal best and a NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
As the Hoyas tuck these performances away with the season’s other finished races, they look ahead to next week’s Big East Championship. There they look to place in the top three teams on both the men’s and women’s sides, and past performances confirm the team’s optimistic outlook.
