April 19, 2008

Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University track & field team had a stellar first day at the Larry Ellis Invitational held in Princeton, N.J. The Hoyas put up seven NCAA Regional qualifying times as well as 10 more qualifying times for the BIG EAST, ECAC and IC4A Championships. Junior Andrew Bumbalough (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood Academy) and senior Matt Debole (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) ran the second- and third-best times in the country in the 1500m as they both qualified for the NCAA Regional.

Bumbalough's time of 3:40.22 in the 1500m won the event for the junior and he was followed up by DeBole who ran the event in 3:40.73 for the third-best performance from a collegiate runner - his previous season best was ranked 14th on the list. The two were just half of the NCAA Regional qualifiers as sophomore Sandy Roberts (Raleigh, N.C./Broughton) and senior Michael Banks (Holden, Mass./Wachusset Regional) also both hit the NCAA Regional qualifying mark with times of 3:46.36 and 3:46.44, respectively.

Also competing in the 1500m were freshman Ayalew Taye (Portland, Maine/Cushing Academy), senior Rasheed Thompson (Herndon, Va./Herndon) and senior Neil Grosscup (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest). Taye and Thompson both qualified for the BIG EAST and IC4A Championships with times of 3:48.08 and 3:48.61, respectively. Grosscup hit a BE mark with his time of 3:53.28.

In the 3000m steeplechase senior Shane Young (Reston, Va./Herndon) ran to a first-place finish with a time of 8:57.41. His time was not only an NCAA Regional but ranks him 10th in the nation among collegiate runners in the steeplechase. Also competing in the steeplechase, junior Alex Mason (Scottsdale, Ariz./Brophy Prep) qualified for the IC4A and BIG EAST Championships with a time of 9:10.31.

Additionally, sophomore Danny Harris (Deer Park, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) ran a seventh-place time of 1:51.64 to qualify for the BE and IC4A Championship. Qualifying for the BIG EAST Championship was freshman James Grimes (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) and senior Scott Bastek (Saddle River, N.J./ Delbarton) with times of 15:02.88 and 15:03.05, respectively, in the 5000m.

For the women, senior Ashley Hubbard qualified for the NCAA Regional with a time of 2:09.21 for second place in the 800m. Also competing in the event junior Christine Whalen (Los Gatos, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) qualified for the BIG EAST Championship with a time of 2:13.21.

In the 1500m, junior Avril Ogrodnick (Beaconsfield, Quebec/Beaconsfield) hit an NCAA Regional qualifying time with a time of 4:25.65 to take third place. Graduate student Susan Hendrick (Solomons, Md./Patuxent/Columbia) qualified for the BE and ECAC Championships as she timed in at 4:30.68.

The final postseason qualifier was junior Natasha LaBeaud (Folsom, Calif./Folsom) who ran the 5000m with a BIG EAST and ECAC qualifying time of 16:55.96.

The Hoyas continue competition at the two-day Larry Ellis Invitational on Saturday, April 19 in Princeton, N.J.