April 24, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - On their first day of competition at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, the Georgetown University track & field team has hit their stride this outdoor season. Running in one championship today and participating in two heats, the women have started on a solid note. The women's distance medley relay squad made up of senior Joanna Rodgers (Fairfax, Va./J.W. Robinson/NC State), senior Ashley Hubbard (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield), junior Maggie Infeld (University Heights, Ohio/Beaumont) and graduate student Elizabeth Maloy (Loudonville, N.Y./Academy of Holy Names) ran to a fourth-place finish, timing in at 11:05.67. On a notable day at the Penn Relays with the top two teams running two of the fastest times in the history of Penn Relays, Rodgers led off the race for the Blue and Gray with the 1200m leg and recorded a split time of 3:25.9. With a smooth handoff to Hubbard - whose split in the 400m was 54.8 - the Hoyas found themselves in fourth place as Infeld started the 800m leg. Infeld ran her best split time in the 800m (2:06.8) to move the Hoyas into third place with Maloy running the 1600m anchor. Maloy battled with the anchor of the Stanford team and ran her fastest split (4:37.6) but fell just shy as the Hoyas finished fourth. The time stands at fifth on the all-time school top performances in the women's DMR. Michigan won the DMR with a time of 10:49.58 with Tennessee following close behind with a mark of 10:50.51. Stanford finished third with a time of 11:05.48. Earlier in the day in the women's 4x100m relay, sophomore Sarah Wernik (Florence, Mass./Northampton), freshman Kyla Cook (Concord, Mass./Concord Carlisle), freshman Deidra Sanders (Memphis, Tenn./Eastern) and sophomore Abigail Johnson (Willingboro, N.J./Milton Hershey [Pa.]) ran their heat with a time of 47.29. The quartet hit an ECAC qualifying time and tied for the 19th-best performance in school history. Running the final event of the day for the Hoyas was the quartet of Wernik, Johnson, senior Alex Baptiste (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) and Sanders in the 4x400m relay. The squad finished with a time of 3:42.24, the fastest time of the season in the event with split times of 55.7/54.4/55.9/55.8, respectively. The time was an ECAC qualifying time but fell shy of the NCAA Regional qualifying time (3:42.00). "I thought we had a very good day," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Patrick Henner said. "It was a great job up front [in the DMR] with Michigan and Tennessee running some of the fastest times in Penn Relays history. All of the women ran great races and performed well, especially with Maggie [Infeld] and Liz [Maloy] running their fastest splits ever. Sarah [Wernik] did an outstanding job at leadoff in the 4x400m. I'm pleased with the progress this team has made this season because they keep getting better." Georgetown continues the Penn Relays tomorrow with the first event (Men's 400m Hurdles) at 9 a.m. The Hoyas will compete in eight events throughout the day with the last one beginning at 6:40 p.m. Results and updates on the events can be found at the official site of the Penn Relays, www.thepennrelays.com.
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