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

Records Fall at Historic Penn Relays

Graduate Student Andrew Bumbalough competed in two relay events, helping the Hoyas to a third and sixth place finish, respectively.
Graduate Student Andrew Bumbalough competed in two relay events, helping the Hoyas to a third and sixth place finish, respectively.

One of the largest and most exciting meets of the year took place this past week at Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. Collegiate athletes, high-school runners and world-class competitors such as Usain Bolt and his Jamaican team competed at Franklin Field, where over 100,000 fans were in attendance. Penn Relays encompassed a three day event this past Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania, and Georgetown showed that they belong with the big names on the track, competing well against Oregon,Villanova, and UVA.

The women’s 4x100m relay team topped off the weekend perfectly with a record-breaking performance.Their season has been marked by consistent improvement as they recently broke a school record at the Larry Ellis Invitational, but they trounced their previous record of 45.50 by running under 45 seconds, finishing with a time of 44.69 to finish eighth. Senior Sarah Wernik led off the relay followed by freshman Tenille Stoudenmire. Graduate student Nene Kamate ran the third leg of the relay while freshman Amanda Kimbers anchored for the team. The next day, they finished in eighth place with a time of 45.03 in the Championship of America race.

“We’ve been working really hard and putting ourselves out there and letting everyone know that we can make it,” Kimbers said. “It was awesome because it’s such a historical thing and we’re making history for Georgetown sprinting and track.”

The men’s 4x100m relay team broke a school record as well. In the IC4A Finals, the Hoyas placed second with a time of 40.66. The team consisted of junior Sean Suber, graduate student Kenny Mitchell, freshman Christian Tobias, and freshman Kadeem Hunter, who anchored for the team. The men barely missed first place, falling to Hampton’s time of 40.43. Regardless, Georgetown’s two relay teams have given a name to a sprinting program that was before considered weak.

The men’s DMR performance stood out among the distance relays. Freshman Dylan Sorenson put on a strong outing in the first leg of the relay, running a strong 2:58.07 split in the 1200m before passing off the baton to junior Toby Ulm right with the leaders. Ulm ran a 46.61 in the 400m and spent his leg chasing the frontrunners before handing off to sophomore Theon O’Connor, who ran the 800m running a 1:49.37 split. However, freshman and All-American Mac Fleet from Oregon created too much of a gap for O’Connor to cover, and graduate student Andrew Bumbalough was forced to make up a good amount of ground. Bumbalough was left to compete for second in the pack. However, Villanova’s Carl Mackenzie outkicked Bumbalough in the last 100m, finishing third with an outstanding time of 3:59.71.

Although the 4xmile was a disappointing finish considering their potential, the Hoyas still ran a solid race. Graduate student Alex Mason led off in the Championship of America relay by running an exceptional time of 4:05.2. Mason left the Hoyas in great position and passed the baton off with the lead pack to senior Alex Bean, who remained relaxed throughout his leg and also ran an impressive 4:04 split. Sorensen took on the third leg and closed strong in the last 400m, but it was not enough to catch the leader, Oregon All-American A.J. Acosta, who also ran the third leg and split a 4:02.5, lengthening the gap too much for any other teams to compete for first. Sorenson split a 4:10.6 and passed the baton off to Bumbalough, who split a 4:02.8, but it was not enough. The Hoyas placed sixth, although the gap was very tight as second place Auburn only finished with a 16:20.41 compared to Georgetown’s 16:22.57.

Despite the close loss to Big East rival Villanova in the DMR and a disappointing sixth place finish in the 4xmile, Sorensen was pleased with the results. “They were great efforts and it was a phenomenal experience running at the Penn Relays,” he said. “It will only help us get better through the rest of the season.”

The women’s 4x800m relay team competed strong against the country’s best such as Chanelle Price of Tennessee. In the Championship of America race, sophomore Lauren Borduin set a personal record with a time of 2:10.95, followed by freshman Rachel Schneider’s phenomenal 2:07.43 split, another personal record. Schneider ran down the lead pack and passed the baton off to graduate student Avril Ogrodnick, who split a 2:09.95. Graduate student Christine Whalen took on the last leg of the relay and split a terrific 2:07.51, and the Hoyas ended up placing sixth.

On the distance side for the Hoyas, junior Ayalew Taye and freshman Andrew Springer ran unattached to put on a show for the crowd on Thursday. They both raced in the 5000m Olympic Development race amongst a large pack of 60 runners. Taye ran a 14:16.80 to finish third, while Springer finished right behind his teammate in fourth, running a personal record of 14.17.60. Taye and Springer had to move up fast and position themselves in the top 15 for the first mile. They began to get a feel for the pace and started moving up after a mile and a half or so. With 1000m to go, Henner advised them to start their kick and they both finished in the top five.

“I didn’t really know how hard to kick,” Springer said. “I didn’t want to get to 800m and die, so I took it kind of conservative.”

Other Highlights:

-All-American Maggie Infeld won the Olympic Development Women’s Mile. Although no longer eligible to compete for Georgetown, Maggie has been attending Georgetown’s graduate program and continues to train with the team. With her first win at Penn Relays, she helped former teammate Elizabeth Maloy finish right behind her in first and second, with times of 4:36.40 ad 4:36.93, respectively. Maloy had an incredible last 500m while Infeld demonstrated signs of a true champion and competitor as she outkicked all her competition in the last 200m to take the gold. However, her younger sister, sophomore Emily Infeld, was not far behind, placing fourth with at time of 4:38.01.

“With Emily and Renee, we want to emphasize training at the next level,” Coach Miltenberg said, “For how hard their training right now, their legs are definitely far from fresh, but they ran a phenomenal race.”

-The women’s 4x400m relay team performed well. Sophomore London Finley, junior Deidra Sanders, senior Sarah Wernik, and senior Abigail Johnson made up the team. It was Johnson’s strong 54.09 that pushed the Hoyas to third in the ECAC race.

-After a great year and an appearance at the Junior World Championships, distance marks freshman Emily Jones’ career. She gave an outstanding performance in the 5000m Championship and placed sixth with a time of 16:31.82. Senior Kelsey Malmquist earned a personal record and placed 17th with a time of 16:46.33, followed by graduate student Lise Ogrodnick and freshman Kirsten Kasper with times of 17:31.05 and 17:41.76, respectively.

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