This past Saturday, Feb. 3, the Georgetown University men’s middle-distance track team traveled to Boston University to compete in the Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational.
Aside from Boston University’s senior day celebrations, the meet was packed with fast times and high marks, ranging from University of North Carolina Parker Wolfe’s blazing men’s 3,000-meter time of 7:37.41, which currently stands as the fastest time of the indoor Division 1 season, to a world-class time of 8:38.94 in the women’s 3,000 by pro Regan Yee.
The meet went well for the Georgetown runners, who put up similarly impressive times in the competition. The Hoyas found success across the four events they competed in, including the men’s 800-meter, mile, 1,000-meter and 3,000m distances.
Although Tinoda Matsatsa, the Hoya first-year from Maryland who earned the Big East male track athlete of the week this past weekend, did not run, other Hoyas competed and improved upon season or personal bests.
Tim McInerney, a graduate student from Manasquan, N.J., had a stellar performance in the 800m race, collecting his second victory of the 2024 track campaign with a personal best of 1:47.56 — the fourth-fastest time in Georgetown history, according to the school’s records. McInerney raced alongside teammates junior Matthew Griffin, senior Owen Johnson and first-year Ryan Mulrooney.
Teammates, including senior Abel Teffra, praised McInerney for the consistent strides he has made to improve throughout his collegiate career.
“It’s pretty inspiring to see Tim, with what he’s been through his past few years at Georgetown, to see him perform like that. And I’m just really excited for him,” Teffra told The Hoya.
Teffra himself posted yet another strong time in the Hoyas’ speedy trip to Boston, setting a personal best 3:56.33 in the mile en route to a 10th place finish. Teffra’s performance was followed by graduate teammates Camden Gilmore and Parker Stokes, who placed 13th and 15th with times of 3:57.23 and 3:57.31, respectively — all top-five mile times in program history.
Teffra attributed his outstanding performance to repetition during practice.
“I think the accumulation of all the consistency has helped me develop,” Teffra said.
Despite Teffra’s personal best in the Scarlet and White meet, bettering his time from last season’s 3:57.76 mark by over a second, he felt unsatisfied.
“I was kinda hoping to run a little bit faster. The pace was slow but I am hoping to run a little bit faster this weekend. I am trying to get a national qualifier,” Teffra said.
Teffra is not the only one who thinks he can run faster. Brandon Bonsey, the assistant track and field coach for the Hoyas, described his excitement for the Hoya’s continued improvement.
“The middle distance performance list at Georgetown is beyond impressive, and getting three runners in the top five all-time feels great,” Bonsey told Georgetown Athletics. “We are excited to come back to Boston next week and hopefully run even faster.”
Other Hoyas also ran well in the meet, including sophomore Jackson Barna, who finished in 2:27.09 in the 1,000.
Georgetown will be able to improve on its progress with a busy weekend across three different locations. The Hoyas will travel to the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitation at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. and the Tiger Paw Invitational at Clemson, S.C., on Feb. 9, while another contingent will travel to Boston for the Valentine Invitational on Feb. 11. Hopefully for the Georgetown track team, it will be the ultimate love story: a meet filled with fast times.
