Men’s Track Finishes Third at Patriot Leagues

Sunday, February 21

Boston, MASS.

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Army West Point

Patriot League Championships

Men’s Track Finishes Third at Patriot Leagues

February 21, 2016 | Men's Track and Field

BOSTON, Mass. – The Army West Point men's track and field team completed the Patriot League Indoor Championships in third place with 140 points from the Boston University Track and Tennis Center on Sunday.

Navy won the indoor meet for the fourth year in a row with 225 points, while host Boston University finished as the runner-up with 195 points.

"Going into the meet I thought we could get third and score in the 120s, so to get to 140 was outstanding," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mike Smith. "Our athletes were setting personal records and competing with real guts the entire weekend. Championship Sunday is about who wants it most. We knew we couldn't win a team championship here this weekend, so I told our team that we needed to improve on last year's team performance and compete to win events, and we did that."

Freshman Ben Sims continued leading the pack in the 60-meter dash, winning the event with a 6.79-second performance. He set the program yesterday in the prelims at 6.75, breaking teammate Jose Santana's previous record of 6.77 set at the 2014 Patriot League meet. Santana also earned the Black Knights points in the event, finishing seventh with a time of 7.03. He edged out fellow Cadet Kevin Dyer by .005 seconds, who placed eighth.

Dyer set a record of his own in the 200-meter dash, with a time of 21.76 in the finals. He placed seventh in the event.

Sims was one of three members of Army's squad to win individual championships on the final day. Sophomore Lee Bares won his first Patriot League individual title with an ECAC/IC4A-qualifying 5.10m performance in the pole vault. Senior Stevyn Spees also led the field in the 500-meter dash, improving his career-best by .01 seconds to 1:03.64.

The Black Knights had a trio of point getters in the 60-meter hurdles as well, collecting 10 points in the event. Senior co-captain Taylor Andrews continued to lead the way for Army, placing fourth after cutting his 8.30 preliminary time to 8.16. Nick Beavers followed with an 8.32 in fifth-place, while Ross Puritty placed eighth after running an 8.45.

Santana would continue his success in the sprints, placing third in the 400-meter dash by eclipsing the previous meet record after crossing the finish line at 47.92. The previous record was set back in 2007 at 48.36. The Orlando, Fla., native also improved upon his career-best time in the event while remaining third on Army's all-time list. Marcus Denham joined Santana in the top-eight of the 400m dash in seventh with a time of 49.70.

Army's most contributing performance came in the deepest event of the meet in the 800-meter run. In an event where the top-nine runners earned ECAC/IC4A qualifying times, the Black Knights came away with 13 team points behind second, sixth and seventh place finishes. Senior Trevor Touchton came in second in the event at 1:51.32, marking a new career-best while inserting his name into the No. 9 spot on the program's all-time list. He is the only current Cadet in the top-10 for the event. Freshman Ben Boswell finished sixth with a time of 1:53.96 while Jack Monday followed at 1:54.24.

Touchton continued to excel in the distance events with another ECAC/IC4A-worthy performance in the mile. The Tallahassee, Fla., native completed the event in 4:06.50 and was joined by Ryan Smathers on the scoresheet. Smathers placed seventh with a time of 4:13.97.

Army's success would continue in the distance events, earning a total of ten points between the 1000 and 3000 meter runs. Nick Causey had the best finish between the two events in fifth with a time of 2:27.99. He was trailed by senior Mitch Dutton in the event, placing sixth at 2:28.70. Junior Jacob Fong was the team's only scorer in the 3000, placing sixth after crossing the finish line at 8:32.02.

Both relay teams competed hard on the final day of the meet, placing in the top-four twice. The 4x400 relay team of Denham, Santana, Spees and Gibson placed third with a time of 3:16.96 while the distance medley relay team of Causey, Marcus Phillips, Boswell and Tom Girardot finished fourth after crossing the finish line at 10:03.54.

The team's versatility continued into the field events, where sixth, seventh and eighth place finishes garnered six points. In the shot put, sophomore Dawson Hillis placed sixth with a mark of 15.93 meters, while Garrett Kohnke finished seventh with a shot of 15.89 meters. Edgar Poe finished eighth in the triple jump after leaping 13.82 meters.

Army has concluded its indoor season and will begin its outdoor slate at UC Irvine's Anteater Four-Way on March 12.

For up-to-date information on Army men's track and field visit GoArmyWestPoint.com or follow @ArmyWP_TrackXC on Twitter.