Last weekend the Georgetown track and field teams brought home a collective seven first-place finishes and ten more finishes within the top three at the Nittany Lion Challenge in State College, Pa.

The men’s team recorded six event wins, the most notable of which came from sophomore Maazin Ahmed, who notched a personal record time of 2:25.25 in the 1000-meter run at the team’s second meet of the 2019-20 season. Director of Track & Field Julie Culley pointed to Ahmed’s performance as one of the Blue and Gray’s most impressive finishes of the day while recapping the meet to GUHoyas. 

“Ahmed’s performance in the 1000-meter run was one of the highlights of the meet with him going to the wire with a Penn State competitor, who he was ultimately able to hold off while running a lifetime best by three seconds en route,” Culley said. 

Also running a personal best was freshman Parker Stokes, who led his 400×8 to a third-place finish by splitting the fastest 800 meters. The relay crossed the finish in 7:57.94 as Stokes topped his personal record by nearly five seconds.

Sophomore Tristan Forsythe won in the one-mile run with a time of 4:10.16, giving him his first collegiate mile win. The Hoya men’s team gained four more first-place finishes with the performances of graduate student Spencer Brown in the 3000m, sophomore Ethan Delgado in the 800m, senior Quincey Wilson in the 400m, and senior Kenny Rowe in the 600m. 

The men’s team also earned second place in the 4×400, recording a time of 3:14.00 with the efforts of Wilson, Rowe, junior Ruach Padhal and junior Lawrence Leake. The relay led the third-place finisher, the United States Military Academy, by almost five seconds and fell short of first place by just over a tenth of a second. The Hoyas’ upperclassmen 4×400 relay team was followed by the Blue and Gray’s two other 4×400 teams that grabbed eighth and 10th place in the meet with times of 3:23.89 and 3:25.70. Culley expressed satisfaction with the top-performing relay team’s finish and commended the runners’ abilities to perform so early in the season. 

“Rowe combined with teammates Wilson, Leake and Padhal all ran one of the fastest 4×400-meter relays the squad has ever run this early in January, while also taking the lead in the Big East conference standings,” Culley said in an interview with GUHoyas. 

Graduate student Alie Fordyce secured the women’s team’s first-place finish with her performance in the 1000m. Fordyce finished with a time of 2:51.42, followed by junior Olivia Arizin in third place with a time of 2:57.83. Culley spoke about Fordyce’s finishing time in comparison to her previous races, noting her performance in the event as her best this season.

“Graduate student Alie Fordyce was paced to a great start in the 1000-meter run before ultimately running herself to win with a season best of 2:51, which is just a few seconds shy of her lifetime best,” Culley said in an interview with GUHoya.

The women’s team recorded several top-three finishes, including freshman Maya Drayton’s third-place finish in the 400m with a time of 56.38. After besting her opponents in the last 200 meters of the 600m, junior Lexi Del Gizzo claimed second place with a time of 1:33.93. 

“Maya Drayton continued the great start to her collegiate career with another indoor best in the 400-meter dash by running four-tenths of a second faster than her season opener and finishing in third place,” Culley said. 

The women’s 4×400, made up of sophomore Tamiya Roberts, junior Chelsea Smith, Drayton and Del Gizzo finished in third place with a time of 3:50.10. Freshman Aniella Delafosse helped the Hoyas in the field events by starting off her collegiate jumping career with a third-place finish in the long jump event. 

The Hoyas will return to action in the Hokie Invitational hosted by Virginia Tech starting Jan. 24 in Blacksburg, Va.