The Georgetown track and field teams turned in strong performances at the Boston University Last Chance Meet this past weekend. This meet was the last opportunity to qualify for the NCAA championships, which will be held in Albuquerque, N.M later this month.
The team broke two school records — the men’s distance medley relay and the women’s mile.
“In the context of Georgetown, those are just incredible performances,”Director of Track and Field and Cross-Country Patrick Henner said.
The men’s DMR set a school record in the 4000-meter relay race, finishing in second place to Villanova with a time of 9:29.11. Freshman Amos Bartelsmeyer set a school record in the 1200m frame at 2:53.3, sophomore Mike Andre finished the next 400m leg with a time of 48.6, senior Billy Ledder followed in the 800m portion with a time of 1:47.5 and sophomore Ahmed Bile’s 1600m run timed in at 3:59.5, breaking the Georgetown record of 9:31.19 set by four All-Americans in 2009.
“Bartelsmeyer led off and he ran the fastest 1200 split, so he got a school record for that split,” Henner said.“Mike Andre ran a 400 leg in 48.6. Billy Ledder ran the 800 leg in the second best time in school history.”
Junior All-American Katrina Coogan set a new school record for the women’s mile, timing in at 4:33.44.
“Katrina Coogan [had] one of the fastest times in the country,” Henner said. “She might be number two or three on the national list, so that went great.”
Freshman Ryan Manahan finished in the men’s 800m run with a time of 1:49.03, and junior Cole Williams finished at 1:51.21, placing in the top two in the second heat and top five overall.
“Also, in the men’s 800 Ryan Manahan ran a personal best in a great time and won his section of the 800,” Henner said.“He is probably going to miss out in making the NCAAs by a couple of tenths though.”
Three Hoyas also earned personal records in the women’s 800m. Freshman Emma Keenan, senior Becca DeLoache and senior Shanique Dasilva finished second, fourth and fifth with times of 2:06.54, 2:07.16 and 2:04.34, respectively.
Sophomore Michael Lederhouse finished first in his heat of the men’s mile and sixth overall with a time of 4:03.10. Sophomore Darren Fahy finished fifth in his heat and tenth overall with a personal best of 4:05.38.
Selections for the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships will be made Tuesday and will be available online by 10 p.m. The meet will take place in Albuquerque, N.M. on March 14 and 15.
“For the most part those who qualified for nationals will just rest and train to get ready for the NCAA meet in Albuquerque in two weeks,” Henner said.“I think both of our relays have a shot of winning; there is no reason we can’t be right there in the last lap or two. I think Billy Ledder is one of the best runners in the country and an even greater competitor than that. Sabrina Southerland in the women’s 800 has got one of the fastest times in the country, as does Andrea Keklak.”
Those who will not be participating in the NCAA championship will compete at the IC4A championships next weekend.
“Basically it’s a great meet and really good competition on the last track,” Henner said.
The IC4A Championships will also take place at Boston University on March 8 and 9.
