Men’s Track and Field Set for NCAA Preliminary Round

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point men's track and field team will be represented by eight athletes at the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Fla. The competition will take place from Thursday, May 26 through Saturday, May 28.

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"The goal is to finish in the top twelve and advance to the NCAA finals in two weeks," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mike Smith. "Our people are pretty good competitors. Our effort and execution is the only thing we can control so we will see if our best is good enough. If it isn't, then we all know that we have to get better."

The NCAA East Preliminary is the opening round of the NCAA Championship event and is hosted by the University of North Florida. The Top 48 ranked athletes in 38 individual events as well as four relay competitions participate with the top 12 performers in each event advance to the NCAA Championships on June 8-11 in Eugene, Ore.

Sophomore Pole Vaulter Lee Bares will be the first competitor of the weekend for the Black Knights. Bares' season-best was a 5.20-meter vault at the Penn Challenge which has him seeded 22nd for the weekend. The Lakeville, Minn., native is the Academy record holder in the event, clearing 5.31 meters last season. Bares will compete on Thursday starting at 4:30 p.m.

"Lee has been our most consistent performer all year and will likely be jumping at a bar that advances to the finals," Smith said. "If he has a lot of first attempt makes, he will have a shot to advance."

Junior Trevor Touchton follows as the only other Black Knight competing on Thursday. Touchton, the last qualifier in the 800 Meter Run with a season-fastest run of 1:49.74, sees his event begin at 8:35 p.m.

"Trevor will need to run over a second faster than his lifetime best to advance to Friday's round but I think he is capable of running faster and that is all we can really ask him to do," said Smith.

Freshman Jeff Giannettino competes in the High Jump on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The West Burlington, Iowa, native tied the Academy record two weekends ago at the IC4A Outdoor Track and Field Championships at 2.15 meters to qualify for this meet. Giannettino is seeded 26th and is tied for sixth among freshman in the east region.

"Jeff had a nice breathrough at the IC4A Championships and if he carries that momentum into this meet, he will be jumping at the bar that advances to Eugene," said Smith.

The 4x100 Meter Relay team caps off the event for Army. The quartet of junior Jose Santana, freshmen Ben Sims and Kevin Dyer, and sophomore Tyler Davis have been sensational all season, setting new Academy records multiple times with their best effort coming at the Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 40.08 seconds. They enter the weekend seeded 20th in the region and run at 6:15 p.m. on Saturday.

"We have come a long way in a short time with two freshman, a sophomore, and a junior," stated Smith. "Our time is the fastest time ever run by a military school. The trick now is for us to find a way to run faster."

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

Men’s Track and Field Set for NCAA Preliminary Round

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Players Mentioned

Lee Bares

Tyler Davis

Kevin Dyer

Jeff Giannettino

Jose Santana

Ben Sims

Trevor Touchton

Army West Point Athletics