Monday, February 08, 2016

Four Under Four in Boston, Southerland Breaks School Record in New York, Three Hoyas Among Nation’s Best in Oregon



GUHOYAS.COM Ahmed Bile ran the fourth sub-four mile of his career on Saturday.
GUHOYAS.COM
Ahmed Bile ran the fourth sub-four mile of his career on Saturday. GUHOYAS.COM
 February 7, 2016

WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University track & field / cross country program had one of the most successful days in program history as the Hoyas split sites between the Boston University Scarlet and White Invitational, the Villanova Invitational at Ocean Breeze in Staten Island and the USA Track & Field (USATF) Junior Cross Country Championships in Bend, Oregon. “I’m really pleased with where our fitness is at this time of year,” Director of Track & Field / Cross Country Michael Smith said. “What we really want to make sure we do is get as many athletes to the NCAA meet as we can and we are poised to do that. “A day like today is great for our team and I know we’re excited. Now I want to make sure that we get back to work with our mind on the championship meets up ahead.” Four Under Four: Boston University Scarlet and White Invitational (Boston, Mass.)
It seems the magic number for the Georgetown men’s track & field team this weekend was four, or more specifically, 3:59. For the second-consecutive year, the men’s team put four student-athletes on the track who went on to run a sub-four mile with All-American Ahmed Bile (Annandale, Va./Annandale) leading the way with a time of 3:57.84, the fourth sub-four mile of his career, to win the event. All-American Cole Williams (San Francisco, Calif./Occidental College) ran his first sub four, finishing second with a 3:57.88, followed by All-American Amos Bartelsmeyer (St. Louis, Mo./Saint Louis Country Day) in third with a personal record (PR) 3:58.22 and Michael Lederhouse (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) in fourth with a PR of his own, 3:58.42.
 

 

Freshman Spencer Brown (Wilton, Conn./Wilton) also had an impressive day as he led a trio of Hoyas among the top six in the men’s 800-meter run with a PR 1:50.24 for second place. Charles Cooper (Montreal, Canada/Lower Canada College) ran a PR 1:51.47 for fifth place followed by Andrew Ogle (Powell, Tenn./Powell) in sixth (1:51.69). Also running a PR was Christian Alvarado (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield College Prep) in the men’s 1,000-meter run as he took more than two seconds off his previous best, timing in at 2:27.43. PRs and a School Record: Villanova Invitational (Staten Island, N.Y.)
For the third time this season, the Hoyas set a new school record, this time in the women’s 800-meter run. All-American Sabrina Southerland (New York, N.Y./Benjamin N. Cardozo) broke her own school record with a nation-leading 2:03.10 en route to the win at the premier indoor track & field facility, the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex. Emma Keenan (Gwynedd Valley, Pa./Gwynedd-Mercy Academy) finished third in the event with a PR 2:05.06. In the women’s mile, it was all familiar faces as six current and former Hoyas finished among the top 11. Former Hoya and All-American Chelsea Cox led the way with a 4:42.61 while a quartet of GU runners finished fifth through eighth highlighted by PRs from Kennedy Weisner (St. Mary's, Pa./Elk County Catholic) and Autumn Eastman (Hinesburg, Vt./Champlain Valley Union) in sixth (4:44.36) and seventh (4:47.12), respectively. Aleta Looker (Ellsworth, Maine/Ellsworth) also clocked a PR with a time of 4:55.73. All-American Samantha Nadel (Glen Head, N.Y./North Shore) finished fifth (4:44.01) while Heather Martin (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) finished eighth (4:49.49). Hoyas Among Nation’s Best: USATF Junior Cross Country Championships (Bend, Ore.)
A trio of Hoyas went out to Bend, Ore., for the USATF Junior Cross Country Championships, an 8,000-meter course on the River’s Edge Golf Course. Reilly Bloomer (Eugene, Ore./South Eugene) finished fourth, qualifying the freshman to represent Team USA at the NACAC (North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association) Cross Country Championships in Venezuela. Nick Wareham (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) finished sixth followed by Adam Barnard (Gray Tenn./Daniel Boone) in eighth place. The Hoyas will return to action on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 12-13, with another weekend of travel as GU will split sites between the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa and the Spire Invitational in Geneva, Ohio. The Rundown
• Sabrina Southerland’s 2:03.10 in the women’s 800m leads the nation and is a new school record for the junior.
• The women’s 800m is the third school record broken since Director of Track & Field / Cross Country Michael Smith took over the program.
• Emma Keenan’s PR 2:05.06 is the sixth-best 800m time in program history. The top five are the only times to break 2:05.
• Of the top 10 women’s 800m athletes in program history, six have worked directly with Michael Smith (Southerland, Andrea Keklak, Becca DeLoache, Keenan, Piper Donaghu, Chelsea Cox).
• Ahmed Bile’s 3:57.84 mile is the second-best time in GU history, only behind John Gregorek’s 3:57.36, also set at Boston University, in 1982. This is Bile’s fourth sub-four mile, a feat not accomplished by any other GU runner, and the second for Bartelsmeyer and Lederhouse.
• Georgetown is the only school in the country to record four sub-four miles thus far. During the 2014-15 indoor season, GU shared the honor only with Oregon. So far during the 2015-16 campaign, only Oregon and Syracuse have the honor of multiple sub-four milers, both tallying a pair.

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