The Georgetown men’s and women’s track and field teams continued their upward climbs toward national titles and personal records at the Raleigh Relays, the team’s first meet of the outdoor season, hosted at North Carolina State University March 24 and 25.

“The momentum coming off of indoors is always really powerful,” said Interim Director Julie Culley. “Opening this weekend at the Raleigh Relays is probably the earliest that we have opened in a long time.”

The prompt start to the outdoor season gives the Hoyas more time to prepare to compete and earn their place at the NCAA Finals in June.

Friday evening’s competition saw three personal record performances in the women’s 1500-meter run from juniors Piper Donaghu (4:22.48) and Autumn Eastman (4:31.94) and graduate student Jocelyn Hubbard (4:36.36). Donaghu’s time of 4:22.48 placed her fourth among more than a hundred athletes competing in the event. Donaghu was pleased with her time, considering it was her first 1500m run of the early season.

“I am really excited to see what I can do because this was my first 1500m and it was a PR, so I am excited to see how much more I can lower that time,” Donaghu said.

Senior Emma Keenan also paced Georgetown’s team performance, running a time of 57.25 in the women’s 400-meter event, which secured her a spot in the top 20 of 77 competitors.

On the men’s side, freshman Quincey Wilson finished with a time of 49.17 in the 400m dash, placing No. 14 in the event that featured over 50 competitors. Additionally, Wilson, junior Nick Sullivan and seniors Nathaniel Gordon and Daniel Anderson finished fourth in the men’s 1600m sprint medley with a time of 3:30.13.

Georgetown added three more top-10 finishes on the final day of competition. Both the men and women had top-10 performances in the 4x400m relays on NC State’s Paul Derr Track. The men placed second with the same group of four from Friday with a time of 3:14.47. Juniors Jody-Ann Knight and Aleta Looker and graduate students Carey Celata and Jocelyn Hubbard placed 10th, running 3:50.74 in the event.

Senior Nathaniel Gordon opened the outdoor season strong in the men’s 800-meter event with a time of 1:51.39, more than three seconds faster than his best time during the 2016 outdoor season.

The upcoming weekend poses a unique challenge for the Hoyas as they split for three different competitions in three different locations.

“We have people intending on qualifying for the regional championship this weekend depending on the location they are in,” Culley said. “The expectation is that we are going to have as many, if not more, [athletes] headed into Oregon, where the NCAA finals are, in June.”

Georgetown will send competitors to the Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Va., Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla. and the Stanford Invitational hosted at Stanford University this weekend, with all three competitions beginning Friday.