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

TRACK AND FIELD | Hoyas Find Success at Hokie Invitational

The Georgetown men and women’s track and field teams traveled to Blacksburg, Va. to compete among 12 other schools in the two-day Hokie Invitational, grabbing five top-three finishes Jan. 24 and coming away with two first-place finishes from sophomore Maazin Ahmed and senior Kenny Rowe on Jan. 25. 

Competing among 12 other teams in the annual tournament hosted by Virginia Tech, the women finished the first day of the meet with mixed results, claiming two of Georgetown’s top-three finishes while also ending several events outside the top 10 or 20. 

In the women’s team’s one field event of the day, freshman Lyric Harris took ninth place in the triple jump, recording 11.28 meters while sophomore Eni Akinniyi fouled out of the event. 

On the track side, senior Margie Culling followed Harris’ performance with a top 10 finish of her own with a one-mile time of 4:54.58 to place seventh.

The 60-meter dash preliminaries saw action from four Hoyas, with freshman Maya Drayton crossed the line first for the Blue and Gray at 7.6 seconds in 10th place. Drayton and her fellow Hoyas’ efforts, however, fell short of qualifying for the event’s finals.

Later in the day, three Hoyas took to the line to compete in the 1000-meter run. Sophomore Sami Corman took home the team’s highest finish of the day with a time of 2:48.27 to earn second place among six other competitors. Graduate student Alie Fordyce finished less than a second later at 2:50.17 to take fourth.

The last event of the day for the women was the 600-meter run, where junior Olivia Arizin took third with a time of 1:35.31 to round out the women’s two top-three finishes. Freshman Malia Anderson finished two seconds later at 1:37.28 in ninth place and sophomore Katherine Lee crossed the line at 1:39.29 in 13th place.

The Georgetown men topped the women’s performance with three top-three finishes in the first day of competition, including a first-place win in the one-mile run. 

The men opened the day with the one-mile run with 11 mid-distance runners. As the only first-place finisher of the day, Ahmed recorded a time of 4:04.51, a personal record by eight seconds. Senior Jack Van Scoter finished in fourth place at 4:07.98, followed by freshman Camden Gilmore (4:10.15), senior Matthew Bouthillette (4:11.02), and freshman Parker Stokes (4:12.00). These Hoyas all claimed spots within the top ten, speaking to the dominance of the Blue and Gray in the 40-competitor event.

GU Hoyas | Sophomore middle distance runner Sami Corman trails behind an opponent from Butler. Corman finished in second place in the 1,000-meter run on day one of the Hokie Invitational.

Director Julie Culley acknowledged Ahmed’s first place finish as a highlight of the two-day tournament, expressing excitement at the freshman’s early performances this season. 

“Maazin’s performance was a huge highlight,” Culley wrote in an email to The Hoya. “He ran a massive PR and beat the 4th best finisher in the 2019 NCAA National Cross Country championships en route. He’s on a roll right now and it’s a joy to see him compete and execute.”

The 60-meter hurdles preliminaries saw freshman Malachi Quarles finishing in ninth place with a time of 8.49, falling short of his competitor and a qualifying spot by 0.04 seconds. 

The Blue and Gray also struggled in the 60-meter dash preliminaries, failing to post a Hoya in the top 15 finishes and qualify for the finals. 

In the last events of the day, two men earned top-three finishes for the Blue and Gray — sophomore Ethan Delgado finished second in the 600-meter dash at 1:20.01, and senior Dylan Scarsone took second in the 3000-meter with a time of 8:35.72.

The second day of the invitational began with the women’s long jump, where freshman Aniella Delafosse marked 5.27 meters, taking 10th place, while junior Malika Houston jumped 5.19 meters, claiming 12th place. On the men’s side, Laney managed 6.33 meters for 14th place.

In the 400-meter dash, the three men who competed all finished in the top 15, with junior Lawrence Leake taking fifth place at 48.14, followed by junior Nate Alleyne at 50.19 and senior Quincey Wilson crossing the line at 51.28.

The mid-distance crew found success in the 800-meter run as junior Lexi Del Gizzo finished in fourth place with a time of 2:12.61. The men’s team put up five competitors, all of whom finished in the top 10. Rowe took first place with a time of 1:50.57 and was closely followed by freshman Matthew Payamps and graduate student Spencer Brown with times of 1:51.81 and 1:51.82. Fifth-year student Nick Wareham finished at 1:53.87, and junior Ruach Padhal wrapped up the race at 1:56.47. 

In the last event, the women’s 4×400-meter relay saw competition from both of its teams, as the A team finished in fifth place at 3:51.02 and the B team grabbed eighth at four minutes flat. The men’s relay team saw success from the A team, placing third with a time of 3:17.38.

Looking at the Blue and Gray’s performance over the two-day tournament, Director Julie Culley acknowledged the improvement she has seen in the team to begin this year. 

“Our sprints/jumps/hurdles group continues to up their game with every season and every competition.  They are committed to the excellence and growth of our entire program and any pressure they put on themselves is a by product of their competitive spirit and desire to win,” Culley wrote. 

The Hoyas will see action again next weekend when part of the men’s team will travel to Indiana for the Indiana Relays, while the rest of the team will travel to Pennsylvania for the Penn State National.

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