Indoor Track Assembles Stellar Performance at Father Diamond Invite

Friday, February 16

Fairfax, VA

2 p.m.

George Washington University

Father Diamond Invitational

Rachel Horowitz 500M Program Record Graphic

Indoor Track Assembles Stellar Performance at Father Diamond Invite

2/16/2024 8:42:00 PM | Women's Track/Cross Country

FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Washington women's indoor track team tallied one school record and 11 PRs en route to a spectacular showing at the Father Diamond Invitational hosted by George Mason on Friday afternoon. GW walked away with four event wins and 13 top-10 placers to cap the team's stellar day.

Leading the way for GDUB was Rachel Horowitz who continues to rewrite the record books. Horowitz tallied a 500m time of 1:17.90 to not only set a new PR and win the event, but to also break the program record. The previous record was held by fellow teammate Alexia Massoud who set a time of 1:22.07 at the Youree-Soence Garcia Meet earlier this season. Horowitz now holds the program record in the 60m, 200m, 300m, 400m and 500m. Also putting together a solid showing in the 500m was Kayla DeSousa who notched a 1:25.51 to finish seventh.

Along with Horowitz, Rita Mazumder also earned gold, placing first in the 800m with a 2:21.71. The mark is a new PR for Mazumder and missed the school record by six seconds. Lola Dinneen claimed first in the 1000m with a mark of 3:02.42, winning in her event debut.

Perhaps GW's most dominant event of the day came in the 3000m where Sarah Mitchell shined with a time of 9:54.30. The mark set a new PR and beat the next closest runner, fellow teammate Una Boylan, by nearly 20 seconds. GW occupied the second, third and fifth-place spots in the race, a dominating effort all-around. Boylan finished second with a time of 10:12.73, while Olivia Syftestad notched third (10:15.16) and Catherine Ruffino grabbed fifth (10:44.80).

Also showing out for the Buff & Blue was Janae Russell who placed third in both the 60m and the 200m. Russell finished with an 8.07 in the 60m and clocked a 26.88 in the 200m, both of which were new PRs. Teammate D'Leela Saiyed also set new person marks in both races, tallying an 8.62 in the 60m and a 29.23 in the 200m.

Rounding out GW's top performers were Emma Friedrich and Ashley Robinson who both competed in the mile. Both runners tallied new PRs in the event with Friedrich running a 5:33.08 for ninth, while Robinson finished 12^th with a 5:36.61.

GW will conclude the 2023-24 indoor season next weekend at the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships. The two-day event will begin on Friday, Feb. 23, and will conclude on Saturday, Feb. 24. The meet will be held at the Virginia Beach Sports Center and fans can follow GWsports.com for the latest information.