Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Nittany Lion Challenge
Strong Day for Army Women's Track & Field at Penn State
January 11, 2020 | Women's Track and Field
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – For the second time this week, the Army West Point track and field team was in action as they competed at the Nittany Lion Challenge at Penn State on Saturday.
The meet marked the first extensive action for much of the team on the young season, as they faced off with athletes from several top east coast schools such as Penn State, Georgetown, Maryland and VCU.
The Black Knights men's and women's teams combined for four victories and 18 top-three finishes on the day. Senior captain Samantha Coletti was victorious in the women's mile with a time of 5:00.28 and teammate Anna Tovkach won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:10.02. Tovkach's time stands as the second fastest 800-meter time in Army history. Calli McMullen placed second in the 400-meter dash, jumping onto another Academy top ten list with the fourth fastest time in school history. The senior currently holds the Army record in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes.
COACH'S CORNER: Head Coach Mike Smith
"I saw a lot of encouraging things today and I am pleased that we hosted the open meet on Thursday. We looked so much better today on the whole and for our speed power people I think we just needed to have a warm up meet to get things rolling. Thursday was our tune up and today we were a little more prepared for the increased level of competition. Penn state by and large was the dominant team today but we had our moments.Â
What I am really looking for in an early season meet is an assessment of our winter break training. I need to figure out what we gained and what we lost and then make the necessary adjustments so that we can be at our best when it counts. Nothing and no one stood out to me as being way behind where we expected them to be so on the whole I feel good about where we are. Now we need to continue to work hard and build off of this day and go onto the next meet. Â
Our only wins were in the 4x800, the 800 and the women's mile but we had a lot of good competitive efforts in other areas. Samantha was a strong winner in the mile and she showed that she has a great starting point. Possibly the most outstanding performance today came from Anna Tovkach in the women's 800. She has put together a very strong block of training since the fall and today's result is an indication of much bigger things to come. She has great racing instincts and is a vicious competitor. She was dominant today. I was also impressed with Brianna White today. She continues to get incrementally better in a number of events. She is our best pentathlete and is starting emerge as one of our best hurdlers and long jumpers. I thought she did a nice job all the way around from Thursday to today. Â
It was a good start in a very competitive environment. I like our mix of veteran performers and our talent?."??????
EVENT WINNERS:
Women's 800-meter Run: Anna Tovkach – 2:10.02
Women's Mile: Samantha Coletti – 5:00.28
Women's 4x800-meter Relay: Caroline Todd, Katherine Verrill, Monika Shimko, Erika Rapp – 9:35.56
NOTBALE PERFORMANCES:
Women's 400-meter Dash: Calli McMullen - 56.15, Second
Women's 800-meter Run: Madeline Magoto – 2:15.03, Third
Women's 800-meter Run: Hannah Deines – 2:15.38, Fourth
Women's 100-meter Run: Samantha Coletti – 2:58.54, Fourth
Women's Triple Jump: Bonvie Fosam – 11.99, Third
Women's Long Jump: Brianna White – 5.60m, Fourth
FULL RESULTS:Â https://live.pttiming.com/?mid=1901
UP NEXT: The Black Knights head to Lexington, Va. for the Keydet Invitational on Jan. 17 and 18.
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