The Georgetown men’s and women’s track and field teams opened up the 2016 outdoor season at split sites, with both squads sending groups of athletes to the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., and the Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Va., where multiple athletes set personal records.
At the Colonial Relays, sophomore Joe White carried over his momentum from the indoor season. He clocked in at 3:47.37 — a personal record — in the men’s 1500-meter event, which placed him fourth overall. Meanwhile, freshman Spencer Brown claimed seventh place by running 1:51.98 in the 800m.
In the men’s 5000m, junior Amos Bartelsmeyer led the way for the Hoyas, finishing in fifth place with a time of 14:05.05. Junior Scott Carpenter followed Bartelsmeyer to a sixth place finish with a time of 14:06.57 — nearly a 15-second improvement over his previous personal record. Graduate student John Murray captured seventh place overall with a time of 14:07.26.
“I think we had a lot of good performances,” Bartelsmeyer said. “The first meet you always get to see where you are at. You haven’t raced in a few weeks, you’ve put in some good training. I think we had some good performances in the 5K. We had some people get a time that will get us into the NCAA first round at Regionals in June. We also had people try out a distance they don’t typically do. It’s fun, and it’s a low-pressure environment, but it was encouraging.”
Bartelsmeyer also expressed excitement about the widespread talent on the men’s track and field team.
“I think we have a lot of depth,” Bartelsmeyer said. “We have a lot of good people, a lot of workout groups doing high quality stuff. That means on any given day, someone’s going to have a really good day and you might not be feeling great. You are going to be pushed and that pushes you mentally. You can be confident that you are working out with some of the best people in the country. Our depth elevates all members of our team.”
As for the athletes on the women’s team that competed at the Colonial Relays, sophomore Jody-Ann Knight ran a time of 59.14 — a personal record — to win her heat in the women’s 400m.
The Hoyas also had an impressive showing at the Stanford Invitational. Senior Samantha Nadel and freshman Audrey Belf competed in the women’s 5000m. Nadel finished in eighth place with a time of 16:02.06 — a personal record for both indoor and outdoor track and field. Belf recorded a time of 16:16.40, claiming 16th place.
“We were really happy when we found out we ended up in the same heat this past weekend because it’s so helpful to work off of each other because we train together at practice so it’s so helpful being together at the race,” Nadel said. “You are feeding off of each other and helping each other out because we know that if one of us can go, then the other can too.”
Going into the 2016 outdoor track and field season, Nadel said she is encouraged by the team camaraderie and chemistry among her teammates.
“One of the main things we always stress is working together as a team and by working together as a team, we will accomplish our goals for outdoor,” Nadel said. “You don’t usually think since track is technically an individual sport, people don’t always think of the team aspect. But it’s really crucial.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams will send groups of athletes to Coral Gables, Fla., and Fairfax, Va., to compete in the Hurricane Alumni Invitational and the Mason Spring Invitational this Saturday.
