The Georgetown track and field teams took one step closer to the last lap of their season over the weekend, as the men’s and women’s squads split sites between the rainy Eastern Kentucky University Rick Erdmann Twilight Meet in Richmond, Ky., and the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville, Va. The Hoyas had a strong showing in both meets, placing multiple athletes in the top ten amid intense competition.

Georgetown’s weekend was highlighted by seniors Maggie Donahue and Parker Stokes placing first and second in their respective events, earning them their subsequent nominations for Big East track athlete of the week. Donahue crushed the Virginia Challenge women’s 10,000 meter run in a tournament-best time of 33:37.22, while Stokes placed second in the team’s only event at Richmond, the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, clocking in at 8:34.67. 

Both athletes are seasoned veterans of the Hoyas, adding these recent accomplishments to their highly decorated resumes. Donahue, a three-time All-American, won last year’s 5,000m at the Big East Outdoor Championships. She also holds the school record for the indoor 5,000m at 15:45.98, which she set at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in 2021. 

Stokes, a two-time All-American and five-time Big East champion, won the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Cross Country Regional Championships last season. He is also a school record holder, placing third in the steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoors Championships with a time of 8:18.88, the fourth fastest in NCAA history. 

Andrea Claeson, a graduate student from Boston University, finished just seven seconds behind Donahue in the women’s 10,000m to take second place. Claeson has a number of Patriot League Championships under her belt from her undergraduate years, including the 1,500m, 5,000m and indoor 3,000m.

The Hoyas also saw significant successes in both the men’s and women’s 1,500m. Junior Abel Teffra ran a personal-best time of 3:40.17 and finished sixth overall in the men’s race, a significant accomplishment for the athlete, who normally competes in the 800m range. In the invite section of the women’s 1,500m, graduate Sami Corman also finished sixth with a season-best time of 4:18.20, while graduate Grace Jensen was 14th at 4:23.54. Senior Pippa Nuttall finished third in the women’s open 1,500m at a personal best of 4:30.41, while graduate Alexandra Stout finished seventh in the same event with a time of 4:35:40. Nuttall previously finished sixth last year in the 1,500m at the Kehoe Twilight Meet.

In the men’s 200m dash, junior Joshua Paige timed in at 21:09 to finish fifth overall and fourth in the seventh heat. He also managed to run a season-best 10:53 in the 100m dash preliminaries.

Georgetown also saw a number of exciting young runners post strong results at the Virginia Challenge. Notable finishes include sophomore Chloe Williams, who jumped 5.97 meters in the women’s long jump, finishing in eighth place, and sophomore Renee Newton, who was ninth at 1:02.28 in the women’s 400m hurdles. Williams and Newton, who are not even halfway through their Georgetown running careers, look to be major contributors in the seasons ahead.

The Hoyas will return this weekend for the 2023 Penn Relay Carnival, a three-day track meet held on Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania. Looking ahead, both the men’s and women’s teams hope to continue perfecting their craft in order to secure titles at the Big East outdoor championships in Villanova, Pa., on May 12th, as well as the NCAA East Preliminary in Jacksonville, Fla.