Halbrook Breaks Army Record at Penn State Invite

January 27, 2018 | Women's Track and Field

WEST POINT, NY – The Army West Point women's track and field team had a solid performance at the Penn State Invite, including a record breaking one mile from Abby Halbrook.

Coach's Quotes

"We had some outstanding performances here this weekend including quite a few personal best marks, patriot league leading marks, and one school record," said head coach Mike Smith. "Our intent was to compete at a high level and get ready for the star meet next weekend."

"I thought Calli Mcmullen looked great in the 60m prelim. 7.68 is a significant improvement for her. She is really starting to figure out the race plan. Her semifinal 7.70 was also a strong race. Those are the two fastest times she has ever run so it was an outstanding effort for her. And Emily Malone did a nice job in the 60m. She has been working on some technical issues the last few weeks and had a nice breakthrough last night in both the prelim and the semi."

"Today our middle distance and distance women were very good. Haley Watson looked very strong in the 500. She is pretty new to that event so it was great to see her win her heat going away. I liked the competitive effort our women in the 1000m and the 3000m."

"The star of the day however was Abby Halbrook in the mile. She smashed our school record today and did it in only her second mile race of the season. That record has stood since 1995, so we saw something pretty special out there today. She is happy with that time but I can tell she has higher expectations, so we have a lot to look forward to with her this winter and spring."

"We had some other nice marks from different areas on the track and in the field. I am most impressed with the way our women have risen to the challenges that have confronted them so far this winter. We have our championship meets coming up and this is the right time for us to be setting records and reaching new levels of success. We are all set to compete next weekend and I know the team is looking forward to the challenge."

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Track Events

Haley Watson finished in fourth place in the 500m with a time of 1:16.06. Hannah Deines followed in 10^th with a time of 1:17.36.
Monika Shimko clocked in at 2:17.55 in the 800m which was good for seventh place.
Samantha Coletti had a strong showing in the 1000m, taking first place with a season best time of 2:53.73. Following the sophomore were Morgan Chewning-Kiluck (2:56.55) in third, and Cassie Mundekis (2:56.81) in fourth.
In the mile, Kate Sanborn earned fifth place with a time of 5:03.17.
In the mile invite, Abby Halbrook finished in seventh place with a time of 4:47.66. This time was a college-best and broke the Army one mile record of 4:50.3 set by Catherine Gaffigan against Navy in 1995.
Yasheika Beckaroo finished in 11^th place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.76. Emily Malone was close behind in 12^th with a time of 25.87.
Bethany Nunnery took third place in the 3000m, clocking in at 9:52.64.
In the 4x400, Army took seventh place with a time of 3:54.87. The team consisted of Lynne Mooradian, Mundekis, Watson, and Calli McMullen.

Field Events

Briyah Brown claimed third place in the shot put, throwing for a distance of 14.92m. Carrie Wasdyke took 10^th in this event with a distance of 12.41m.
Olivia Gervan tied for 12^th place in the high jump with a height of 1.60m.
Bonvie Fosam finished in eighth place in the triple jump with a final distance of 11.62m.

UP NEXT
The Black Knights are back in action on Feb. 3 in Annapolis, Md., to compete against service-academy rival Navy in the annual Star meet.

For more information on Army West Point women's track and field, visit GoArmyWestPoint.com and follow @ArmyWP_TrackXC on Twitter.