Progressing on their campaign to qualify as many athletes as possible for postseason competition, the Hoyas made a strong showing at the Duke Invitational last weekend.
Georgetown finished the meet with two NCAA Regional qualifiers, five IC4A qualifiers, five Big East qualifiers and seven ECAC qualifiers.
Junior Chris Lukezic, who usually races the 1500-meter run or the metric mile, took second in the 800-meter run with a NCAA Regional-qualifying time of 1:50:22 while freshman Maggie Infeld continued her standout season by also qualifying for NCAA Regionals. According to Assistant Coach Scott McLeod, it was an impressive performance considering that the 800 is not Lukezic’s strongest event. He usually runs the 1500-meter race or the metric mile.
“He’s the kind of guy that can run up or run down and it’s still good practice,” Assistant Coach Scott cLeod said.
McLeod also praised Infeld. After being knocked down in a race three weeks ago, she came back last week to win the 1,500-meter race at the Raleigh Relays. This week’s performance only confirms her resilience. “She’s tough and really mature for a freshman,” McLeod said. “The best is yet to come.”
The women’s 4 x 800-meter squad, made up of sophomore Elizabeth Maloy, senior Kelley Otstott, junior Meghan O’Neil and sophomore Nana Hanson-Hall, also took second in their event, with a time of 8:55:35, just 13 seconds behind winner Michigan.
Hanson-Hall, O’Neil and Otstott all followed Infeld with ECAC-qualifying times.
Other female ECAC qualifiers included sophomore Kandace Ferguson in the 200 meters and junior Sabine Knothe in the 400, as well as the women’s 4 x 100-meter squad, consisting of sophomores Nichole Torpey, Kandance Ferguson and Ashley Mondie with freshman Ashley Hubbard at anchor.
Junior Erin Henry ran a Big East-qualifying time of 11:01.17 in the 3,000-meter Steeple Chase, one of track and field’s more adventurous events.
On the field, Mondie placed fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 11.75 meters. Both Mondie and freshman Alex Baptiste posted Big East-qualifying marks in the long jump.
McLeod said that unpredictable spring weather on the East Coast has been a factor holding back the jumping team.
Three men had IC4A-qualifying performances: senior Rod Koborsi in the 1,500, senior Charlie Millioen in the 5,000 and junior Steve einelt in the 5,000.
The 4 x 100 team of junior Jesse Patterson, junior Chris Bonner, junior Jared Jenkins and sophomore Jonathan Geffrard along with the 4 x 800 team of freshman Winston Weatherspoon, sophomore Rasheed Thompson, freshman Michael Billington and Lukezic qualified for the IC4As also.
Both sophomore Jonathan Geffrard and junior Chris Bonner ran Big East-qualifying times, in the 100 and 800, respectively.
This weekend, The Hoyas will race in two relays. Athletes who have qualified for the highly competitive Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. race today on the West Coast, while the rest of the team heads to the University of Virginia.
