Kirk Posts Academy Record As Army Opens Indoor Season With Crowell Open

Saturday, December 7

West Point, N.Y.

9 AM

Army West Point

Crowell Open

Kirk Posts Academy Record As Army Opens Indoor Season With Crowell Open

December 07, 2019 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Army West Point track and field team kicked-off its 2019-20 indoor campaign in their home facility on Saturday when they hosted the Crowell Open at Gilis Field House.

The Black Knights competed against athletes from several schools such as Manhattan, Vasser, Farleigh Dickinson, and Molloy College.

Headlining the performances was thrower Geoff Kirk, who broke his own Academy record with a shot put throw of 18.36 meters. It was a strong showing for several Cadets including senior standout Calli McMullen, who claimed victory in each of her three events. Sophomores Justin Young and Emily Mikoud, who both earned Patriot League Rookie of the Meet honors in 2019, were victorious in their respective events.

The competition was the first of three home meets for the Black Knights during the indoor season. The team will return to action in the second of those meets when Army hosts the West Point Open to begin the new year on Jan. 9.

COACH'S CORNER: Head Coach Mike Smith
(On Women's team)
"Our women had some outstanding performances today and in the end set five meet records. The Crowell meet is typically an intra-squad meet, so we tend to put our people in the same events to create some competition. We have the most complete roster of the 6 years that I have been here and our competitive depth was apparent today.

Calli McMullen had the best December meet of her career. She set two meet records today in the 60 and 200 and was a part of a third in the 4x400. She looked great today. I was really impressed with our 100m hurdle women. Three of those women went under the meet record. Brianna, Shailah and Lynne were all scorers at the conference meet last year. They ran pretty well today, so the performance by Saydee is significant. She was a high school state champion in Hawaii and we knew she was capable, but today's performance was close to our school record. That says a lot about where she is right now. Our throws women also put up some nice marks. Abigail Green and Emily Mikoud have looked good all fall, so I was not surprised to see them perform well today. It was a good start to the season and there is a lot we can build on from here."

(On Men's team)
"I thought we had a really strong opener today. This meet is largely a chance for our speed power people to get the year going and there were several strong performances today from those groups. Our throwers highlighted the day today. That group was strong for us last year and I would say we are better this year. Several of those guys had a strong series in the weight and then came back to throw elk in the shot. Far and away the star of the meet was Geoff Kirk. He has looked good all fall and we knew a 60 foot throw was coming. So today's mark was not a surprise. He broke his own school record and validated what we have been seeing. I think we will continue to see him set records and push that throws group toward more elite performances. Josh Gilliard was the other outstanding field performer from today. He did a nice job last year and was a consistent performer. Today though, he surpassed all of his performances from last year and had some really good attempts at seven feet.

There were some nice marks on the oval as well. We have a lot of young guys in the sprint hurdle group and they did a nice job of competing today. We have benefitted from a lot of veteran sprint talent the last few years and now we have to depend on some young guys to carry those events. Justin Young opened up very close to the time that he ran last year. He will continue to improve. Jon Redmond emerged today as a guy that we can count on in the short sprints. He was a high school state champion in Missouri so we knew he had some ability and some of that was on display today. Now we have a few more weeks of preparation through TEE week and into the holiday break. When we come back in January we have to be ready and I like where we are after seeing the performances today."

EVENT WINNERS:
Women's 60m - Calli McMullen - 7.60
Men's 60m Hurdles - Justin Young - 8.06
Women's 60m Hurdles - Saydee Aganus - 8.80
Women's 200m - Calli McMullen - 25.01
Men's 400m - Kevin Sembrat - 49.94
Women's 500m - Anna Tovkach - 1:17.34
Women's 1000m - Madeline Magoto - 2:58.90
Men's Mile - Zachary Simon - 4:24.87
Men's 3000m - Caleb Washington - 8:30.78
Men's 4x400m - Calvin Wetzel, Kevin Sembrat, Peter Smith, Graham Aldredge - 3:24.52
Women's 4x400m - Lynne Mooradian, Calli McMullen, Haley Watson, Anna Tovkach - 3:55.21
Women's Weight Throw - Emily Mikoud - 17.56m
Women's Shot Put - Emily Mikoud - 14.50m
Men's Shot Put - Geoff Kirk - 18.36m (School record)
Men's Pole Vault - Ethan Hull - 4.60m
Women's Pole Vault - Lauren Elliott - 3.35m
Men's High Jump - Joshua Gilliard - 2.09m
Women's High Jump - Olivia Gervan - 1.60m
Men's Long Jump - Drew Bullen - 6.79m
Women's Long Jump - Jade Robinson - 5.56m
Men's Triple Jump - Tyrese Bender - 14.19m
Women's Triple Jump - Bonvie Fosam - 11.84m

UP NEXT: Army will host the West Point Open at Gillis Field House on Jan. 9.