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 & Field | Track Captures Titles at Big East Championships

The Georgetown men’s and No. 14 women’s indoor track and field teams each claimed fourth place at the Big East championships in Staten Island, N.Y., this past weekend. The women captured five event titles, the most in Georgetown indoor track and field history for one championship. The men secured a total of 89 points while the women recorded 112.

Sophomore Joe White led the way for the men’s team, setting a new Big East championship meet record in the men’s 800-meter event. White clocked in at 1:47.59, securing first place overall in the race. Senior Ahmed Bile and senior Andrew Ogle also recorded points for the Hoyas, running times of 1:51.52 and 1:51.62, respectively. Bile finished in fourth and Ogle captured fifth.

“Ahmed Bile and I wanted to push the pace as best as we could with just us two in the race,” White said. “We decided that he would take the 500 and we would just see how fast we could go over the last 300 meters.”

The Hoyas captured first place in the men’s distance medley relay, recording a time of 9:28.91, a new meet record, with their relay teams of White, Bile, senior Michael Lederhouse and junior Amos Bartelsmeyer.

In the men’s mile, Bartelsmeyer and Lederhouse each saw strong performances, with Bartelsmeyer securing third and Lederhouse claiming fourth. They recorded times of 4:22.17 and 4:22.72, respectively.

Director of Track and Field Michael Smith lauded both athletes for their effort.

“I couldn’t be more proud of how they are competing,” Smith said. “It goes back to responding as competitors to a situation. We get knocked a lot as a time trial team. And often criticism for our team would be is that we set too many things up, but if you look at guys like Lederhouse and Amos, Lederhouse runs 2:52 kicking with the best kicker in the country. Amos runs 3:57 low in the mile anchor. That is not a set up race. That is just those guys racing. The plan before the race was beat Villanova. We have athletes that are competitive.”

The women were led by sophomore Kennedy Weisner, who captured first place in the women’s mile. She ran a time of 4:48.14, becoming a Big East champion for the first time in the process. Sophomore Aleta Looker and freshman Kayla Grahn also recorded points for the Hoyas in the event, clocking 4:57.75 for seventh and 5:00.32 for eighth, respectively.

Weisner said she was pleased with her performance in the event.

“That was really exciting and I really wanted to win,” Weisner said. “When it actually happened it was great. I kind of just wanted to take control of the race and see what happened and it worked in my favor.”

The women’s DMR won its third straight Big East event. The relay of senior Samantha Nadel, junior Sabrina Southerland, Weisner and graduate student Katrina Coogan clocked in at 11:18.02.

“It is always so much fun to compete with your friends on a relay,” Weisner said. “It is different than when you are just out there competing individually, so that was really special.”

The Hoyas defended their title in the women’s 3000m event as Coogan won the event with a time of 9:07.44. Nadel and freshman Audrey Belf recorded points for the Hoyas in the event, running times of 9:19.81 and 9:33.54, respectively.

The relay of Looker, Coogan, Weisner and graduate student Andrea Keklak won the 4x800m relay, which the Hoyas have not won since 2009. Collectively, the four ran a time of 8:51.74.

The women also enjoyed strong performances in the 800m event. Senior Heather Martin continued her impressive season, as she clocked in at 2:08.87. She was followed by junior Emma Keenan and sophomore Piper Donaghu, recording times of 2:08.88 and 2:09.18, respectively.

In the 1000m race, Southerland ran 2:45.72 to claim second place.

The Georgetown men’s indoor track and field team will travel to Boston from March 5 to March 6 to compete in the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America meet. The women’s squad will run in the Eastern College Athletic Conference in Boston on the same days.

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