Nine Black Knights Head to NCAA Regionals

Thursday, May 24

Tampa, FL

11:30 AM

Army West Point

NCAA Preliminary Round

Nine Black Knights Head to NCAA Regionals

May 23, 2018 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Nine Cadets from the Army West Point track and field teams qualified for the NCAA Regional meet in Tampa, Fla.

The eight qualifiers from the men's team include Keagan Smith in the 1500-meter run, Jeff Giannettino in the high jump, Lee Bares in the pole vault, Kedrin Jefferson in the 200-meter dash, Michael Renard and Geoff Kirk in the discus, and Grayson Hill and August Cook in the javelin.

Briyah Brown is the lone representative from the women's team and will be competing in the shot put.

Coach's Quotes

"The eight men and one woman that have qualified to the NCAA East prelims is the largest group that we have qualified since I have been here," head coach Mike Smith said.

"This is Briyah Brown's third trip to the meet. She has been the star of our program for all four of her years at the academy and it will be a great capstone to her career for her to take a shot at improving her position this weekend. We have arranged to get her back for graduation, so I am happy for her that she will get to represent Army West Point one final time in her athletic uniform and her cadet uniform on the same weekend."

"We have quite a few young guys in our men's group including three extraordinary plebes. Only the top 48 athletes from all schools East of the Mississippi River advance to this meet. The fact that we have three plebes qualified speaks to their talent and the hard work put in by our coaches to get these young guys here. Our intention all along has been to increase our talent level, and qualification to the NCAA preliminary round is a good indicator of talent."

"The top-12 finishers in each event at this meet advance to the NCAA championship so that is our objective. None of our guys are currently ranked in the top 12 so we will need to perform well in order to advance. The good news is that most of these guys have been extremely consistent this year and that is the key to being successful at the NCAA level. I have always felt that if you just do what it took to get you to this meet, you will be competitive. Four of our guys are sitting just outside the top 12."

"This is the fourth consecutive NCAA trip for Lee Bares in the pole vault. He has been close to making the top 12 every year. He is in the best shape of his life so if he is mistake free early in the competition, he has a good shot to advance. The same is true for Jeff in the high jump. He likes to jump in high pressure situations, so if he can get into his rhythm early he will end up jumping at the bar that will advance to Eugene."

"Grayson and August are both capable of putting together a series of throws in the javelin that could end up in the top 12. Our weather this spring has been a great challenge so those guys have only had one or two good days to throw since March. They will be tested for sure but both tend to throw well early in competition, and in an event where you only get three attempts that is a huge advantage to have. Geoff and Mike in the discus will have to have significant improvements in their marks in order to advance but they are both young and capable of throwing much farther."

"Our two entries on the track, Keagan Smith and Kedrin Jefferson, are also young. The track qualifying is a little different than the field events. These guys will need to run twice this weekend to narrow down the top 12."

"This is Keagan's second trip to the NCAA prelims so he knows what to expect. He has been very good and more importantly, very consistent this spring. The weather for him has been terrible most of the time so he has yet to really run as fast as I think he can. While he is pretty far down the list, he is within a second of the guys that he will need to beat in order to move on. His ability to finish over the last 400m is a necessary skill in the 1500 so he will be in the hunt on Thursday. Kedrin has shown the most dramatic improvement of maybe anyone on our team this year. He is a great competitor so I am confident that he will improve on his position on the list and if things fall into place he could surprise some guys. This meet will be a big test for all of our guys."

THE MEET
The NCAA Div. I East Preliminary Round
Where: Tampa, FL
When: May 24-May 26^th
How to Follow: https://www.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/external/track-field/results/d1/outdoor18/East/index.htm

Thursday
Men's 1500m (First Round)
Men's Pole Vault
Women's Shot Put

Friday
Men's 200 (First Round)
Men's Discus

Saturday
Men's High Jump
Men's Javelin

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