Will Geoghegan ’14 did not consider running Division I track until his sophomore year of high school, when he quit baseball, his primary sport at the time, to start outdoor track. Last weekend, Geoghegan achieved the runner’s holy grail, running a sub-four-minute mile, suggesting that the switch was worth it.
Following a strong weekend at Boston University’s Terrier Invitational, Dartmouth now has the best male and female milers in the country this track season. In the second heat that day, Geoghegan ran the mile in 3:58.04, breaking a Dartmouth record set by Sam Wilbur ’94 in 1994. Geoghegan wrote himself into the Ivy League record books, beating Columbia University’s Kyle Merber’s 2010 time of 3:58.52. Abbey D’Agostino ’14 broke her own Dartmouth and Ivy women’s record, finishing in 4:28.31.
“Athletes have been running the mile in the Ivy League for decades,” said head coach Barry Harwick. “So, having the all-time indoor record be held by a Dartmouth runner is just great.”
Geoghegan has had successful seasons in the past, but his senior year has been the capstone to his running career. Harwick said that Geoghegan has both trained hard and been able to stay healthy this year, both contributing to his success.
Geoghegan said this was the best start to a season he has had in his Dartmouth career, with two wins in two races.
“I think the biggest factor is just that this is the longest stretch of training I’ve ever had that hasn’t been interrupted by illness or injury,” he said.
Geoghegan runs between 60 and 90 miles a week, depending on the season and racing schedule. He also tries to take one day a week off from running to do lifting, core work or other cross-training. The training has clearly paid off for the senior.
Geoghegan has won many significant races at Dartmouth, but all are now dwarfed by his accomplishment in the mile.
Notably, he won the mile title at the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America last year, with a time of 4:05.71.
He also said he fondly remembers running a 13:55.92 5,000-meter race, good for 15th place, at Mt. San Antonio College in California last spring.
A major milestone in his running career occurred this past November, when Geoghegan won All-American honors at the NCAA Cross-Country Championships.
“After [the NCAA Cross-Country Championships], I knew he was going to be ready for big things in track,” Harwick said.
Geoghegan’s teammates cite his intense training, along with his work ethic, positive attitude and kindness to team members as the keys to his success.
“What separates Will is that he knows his mind and body very well,” said teammate John Bleday ’14. “While he works very hard, he never does too much to burn himself out. He understands his limits — which are almost nonexistent — and stops when he knows it will hurt his performance.”
Bleday also praised Geoghegan for being an excellent teammate and training partner, taking the time to be a mentor and friend to younger teammates.
“You can often find him chatting with underclassmen about their training and helping them adjust to the program,” Bleday said. “He is also one of the guys that is always around the cross-country house and ready to procrastinate homework a little longer to hang out with the guys on the team.”
Currently, Geoghegan has NCAA eligibility to run a fifth year of indoor and outdoor track, but Ivy restrictions do not allow for him to use this eligibility at Dartmouth. Geoghegan said he hopes to use his eligibility while at graduate school for computer science. Recently, Alexi Pappas ’12 took her extra eligibility to the University of Oregon to compete for a national championships with the Ducks, a traditional running powerhouse.
“It’s hard to say what will happen after that because there are very few certainties in competitive running, but I think being paid to run would be pretty cool,” Geoghegan said.
