Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown Returns All-Americans from NCAAs

Only the best of the best qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field championships, and in Fayetteville, Ark., the Hoyas ended their season with six All-American titles.

Junior Chris Kinney was the only representative for the men’s indoor track and field team. He demonstrated his consistency on March 12 – he ran a 7.81 in the 60-meter hurdles and placed ninth in the preliminaries, just missing the eighth spot by a hundredth of a second that would have qualified him for the 60m hurdles finals.  Although he did not move onto the finals, Kinney set another personal record and broke his own school record.

Competing against the fastest in the country allowed Kinney to run his best time of the season. In order to gain some extra speed, he sacrificed form, which subsequently led to a few errors in Kinney’s race, like floating over the hurdles a little too much and not hitting the ground fast enough.

Constant improvement has marked Kinney’s season. His goal time for the year was to run sub 7.8 in the 60m hurdles, but Kinney’s frequent PRs and new school records made it a successful campaign, as he finished as an All-American.

After recording the 11th-fastest time in the country two weeks ago at Notre Dame, the women’s 4x400m relay team placed 11th in Arkansas. Sophomore London Finely led off the first leg followed by senior Nene Kamate, who recently broke a school record in the 60m hurdles at Notre Dame. Freshman Amanda Kimbers ran the third leg of the race, and senior Abigail Johnson anchored the relay. The women ran a disappointing 3:44.13 compared to their previous 3:35.64 at Notre Dame.

The women’s distance medley relay had the most success at the NCAAs, and each of the four Hoyas earned All-American titles. The DMR placed third with a time of 11:01.4 breaking a Georgetown school record by a full second. On Friday night, senior Renee Tomlin led off the first leg of the DMR. Runners usually find themselves boxed in and unable to position themselves well in the 1200m leg of the DMR, but Tomlin put the Hoyas in great position right in the lead pack behind Tennessee and Oregon with her time of 3:25.9. It was her leg that enabled the rest of the team to have clean runs.

Tomlin handed the baton off to Johnson, who ran a time of 52.7 in the 400m portion of the DMR. She maintained the third place position for freshman Rachel Schneider.

“Rachel did great, handling the pressure of the NCAA’s and hung on and kept with the leaders,” Head Coach Chris Miltenberg said.

Schneider ran a 2:09 in the 800m, leaving sophomore Emily Infeld with a three-second gap behind Oregon, but Tennessee had extended their lead. Infeld and Oregon both went out hard to try to catch Tennessee.

Infeld’s first 200m timed in at 29:30. She settled behind Oregon and together they reeled in Tennessee with about three laps to go. Infeld struggled to stick with the pack with 300m left, and the speed she started out with had taken its toll, as Oregon and Tennessee managed to break away. But Infeld still ran a 4:33, which broke the previous school record by three seconds in the open 1600m. She placed third in the country and earned All-American honors.

“If you look at all those great teams behind us, we were one of the only teams that put ourselves in the hunt to win it with Tennessee and Oregon,” Miltenberg said.

Infeld’s weekend did not end there. She had a tough double ahead of her and came back early Saturday morning to race in the 3000m. Infeld placed eighth with a time of 9:13.32, earning herself yet another All-American title. The three leaders were significantly in front, but with three laps to go, Infeld stuck with a tight pack that would place fourth through ninth. She had a late start getting her kick going, but everyone who beat Infeld was a senior.

“This is a game of strength and time in the game and how long you’ve been at it,” Miltenberg said. “It’s putting in the work year in and out, and for her to do what she did as a sophomore against all these great seniors shows what she’s set up to do in the future.”

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