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

GU Track Garners Top Spots

The Georgetown track and field team was split among three meets this weekend, producing several top-notch times, including some NCAA provisional qualifying times (as opposed to automatic qualifying times).

The Hoyas men’s distance squad traveled to compete at the Terrier Classic Friday night at Boston University. Junior Matt Debole led the efforts, turning in an NCAA provisional qualifying time and just missing the automatic time in the 3000-meter in 7:56.45. Debole was the top collegiate finisher at the match, and his time ranks as the fourth fastest in Georgetown history.

Red shirt-freshman Andrew Bumbalough ran unattached in the race, finishing in seventh place in a personal-best and NCAA-provisional time of 8:01.13.

“He went out there and decided to run in the race, his time was the fastest ever by a Georgetown freshman and it was pretty close to the American Junior Record,” Assistant Coach Pat Henner said.

Sophomore Daniel Nunn and senior Fleet Hower rolled to another pair of NCAA provisional qualifying times in the 5000m run. They placed second and third with times of 13:59.23 and 14:01.08, respectively. The finish was a personal-best time for Nunn by over 15 seconds.

“These guys executed the race great, Fleet did a good job of leading for most of the race and was close to his personal best,” Henner said.

Another pack of Hoyas competed at the Penn State National Open meet last weekend, gathering five first-place finishes at the meet.

Senior Tommy Manning continued to turn in fast times, winning the 1000m run in 2:23.61, the fastest time in the Big East conference this year. Junior Rasheed Thompson finished seventh at 2:26.99. Both Manning and Thompson notched Big East and IC4A qualifying times.

Senior Chris Bonner produced another win for the Hoyas, capturing the 400m dash in a Big East and IC4A qualifying time of 48.17 seconds.

In the 3000m run, junior Brian Dalpiaz and senior Charles illioen ran one-two as they finished with similar times of 8:13.79 and 8:13.98, respectively. Both qualified for the Big East and IC4A championships.

Senior Chris Esselborn was another Hoya to run a Big East and IC4A qualifying time, finishing eighth in the mile run with a personal best time of 4:09.75.

“Chris did a great job. He’s just a amazing athlete where he can compete in any distance from the 800m to the 10,000m and run well,” Henner said.

Stanley Lagrenade posted a time of 1:53.94 in the 800m run, a time that gets him into the Big East and IC4A meet as well.

On the women’s side, junior Nana Hanson-Hall led a number of impressive performances with a win in the 800m run. She recorded a time of 2:09.37, which qualifies her for both the Big East championship and the ECAC championships. Freshman Christine Whalen also qualified for both championship meets with her sixth-place time of 2:12.90.

Freshman Buky Bamigboye broke the university pentathlon record in her debut performance in the event, accumulating 3,586 points to break the previous mark by 83 points.

Bamigboye later teamed up with juniors Kandace Ferguson, Nana Hanson-Hall and sophomore Ashley Hubbard to finish fifth in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:43.72.

“Buky’s school record was a great way to start off the meet for us and it places her third or fourth in the Big East right now,” Ron Helmer, director of track and field and cross country said.

Ferguson and Hubbard also notched championship qualifying times in the 500m run, finishing one-two with times of 1:13.58 and 1:13.88, respectively.

In the 1000m race, senior Meghan O’Neil and freshman Avril Ogrodnick were the second- and third-fastest collegiate finishers with championship qualifying times of 2:52.46 and 2:53.15.

Sophomore Maggie Infeld, junior Liz Maloy and freshman Lise Ogrodnick all recorded qualifying times in the 3000m run with times of 9:38.01, 9:38.23 and 9:50.88, respectively. Freshman Natasha LaBeaud, sophomore Jennifer Funk and senior Erin Henry also notched Big East championship qualifiers with times of 9:52.20, 10:00.55 and 10:00.66.

“The top three girls here all ran personal bests,” Helmer said.

Sophomore Scott Bastek finished 11th in the 5000m run in 14:52.21 to qualify for the Big East Championships.

“Scott had a breakthrough performance and I was really happy with his time,” Henner said

Meanwhile, a third group of Hoyas traveled to compete at the George Mason Patriot Games. The meet was highlighted by the performance of junior Ashley Mondie, who won the triple jump in a distance of 40 feet, 7.75 inches. Mondie also placed second in the Long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 9.5 inches and was a part of the winning 4x400m relay that finished with a time of 3:56.27.

Freshman Terrell Gissendanner also performed an impressive triple as he placed third and fourth in the triple jump and long jump and finished second in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.51. Gissendanner is already qualified in these three events for the Big East Championships.

Freshman Khyle Osbourne won the shot put with a season’s-best throw of 50 feet, 6.25 inches.

“Overall, there were tremendously solid times,” Helmer said “we are working towards building a more well-rounded team to make an impact on certain championship levels.”

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