Army Finishes Second at PL Championship

Friday, April 30

West Point, NY

All Day

Army West Point

Patriot League Championships

Army Finishes Second at PL Championship

May 01, 2021 | Women's Track and Field

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point women's track and field team finished second at the outdoor Patriot League championships at Shea Stadium. The Black Knights won nine of the 22 events and posted a total of 19 top three finishes.

Georgia Jones was named the Patriot League Women's Rookie of the Meet. Jones set a meet record in the 5000m with a time of 16.18.93. The time also broke Army's program record set by Teresa Sobiesk in 1986. She also took third in the 1500m with a time of 4:41.06.

Emily Mikoud registered the most points in the meet with 28. She won the shot put with a meet record mark of 15.51m and claimed first in discus with a throw of 50.42m. Mikoud additionally placed second in the hammer throw with a heave of 61.32m. She finished just behind Abigail Green, who won the event at 61.64m.

Helen Shearer set a meet record and shattered Army's program record in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 10:11.24. The time, which is the 37th best in the nation this year and seventh fastest mark by a freshman, bested Army's previous program record by more than 30 seconds.

The Black Knights' 4x800m relay team of Quinn Collins, Shayla Bonzelet, Morgan Chewning-Kulick and Anna Tovkach took first with a time of 8:59.64 on Friday. Tovkach, who was anchoring the relay, was in third place when she received the baton. The senior shot to first place within the first 200 meters and ended up running a 2:09.24 split.

Army posted event wins in both the triple jump and the long jump. Bonvie Fosam claimed first in the triple jump with a mark of 12.39m. Freshman Lindsey Smith took first in the long jump with a personal best mark of 5.75m.

Hannah Blakey earned a first place finish in the 400m hurdles with a program record time of 1:00.33.

EVENT WINNERS
400m hurdles: Hannah Blakey – 1:00.33
4x800m Relay: Quinn Collins, Shayla Bonzelet, Morgan Chewning-Kulick, Anna Tovkach – 8:59.64
3000m Steeplechase: Helen Shearer – 10:11.24
5000m: Georgia Jones – 16:18.93
Long Jump: Lindsey Smith – 5.75m
Triple Jump: Bonvie Fosam – 12.39m
Shot Put: Emily Mikoud – 15.51m
Discus: Emily Mikoud – 50.42m
Hammer Throw: Abigail Green – 61.64m

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
400m: Holli Chapman – 56.75, second
800m: Anna Tovkach – 2:08.36, second
1500m: Georgia Jones – 4:41.06, third
4x100m Relay: Kersten Douglas, Jade Robinson, Holli Chapman, Brianna White – 47.35, second
4x400m Relay: Anna Tovkach, Holli Chapman, Hannah Blakey, Shayla Bonzelet – 3:46.29, second
Triple Jump: Gabrielle Ingram – 11.95m, third
Shot Put: Aysia Salas – 14.01m, third
Discus: Abigail Green – 47.76m, second
Hammer Throw: Emily Mikoud – 61.32m, second
Javelin: Nicole Sacchinelli – 47.08m, second

HEAD COACH MIKE SMITH'S THOUGHTS
"We had a lot of fight in us today, but not enough scoring opportunities to win the meet. We scored more points at this meet than any Army team has ever scored, but it was still not enough to win. We won nine of the 22 events at the meet and we set some records in doing it. Emily Mikoud was a star again today in dominating the throwing events. She won both the shot and the discus and the shot mark was a meet record and a school record. She is still finding her timing, so I would expect that she could continue to put up some big marks in the coming weeks. Bonvie Fosam continued her unbeaten streak in the triple jump, winning that event easily. She has developed some real consistency and a strong level of confidence in her ability. She is very close to hitting a large jump in the future.

"Hannah Blakey was one of three winners we had today on the track. She is a late bloomer of sorts for us. She came to the Academy as a relative unknown performer and we persuaded her to come out for the team last year. When the pandemic ended our season in March, it forced Hannah to postpone her debut in the 400 hurdles, so she is still figuring out how to run the race. Today she took a big step forward in managing her rhythm so that she could finish strong. Getting the school record in the process was a big bonus.

"The two meet records that we had today came from our two plebe distance runners. One was a dominant performance leading wire to wire and the other was a more dramatic come from behind kick. In the 3000m steeplechase, Helen shearer went straight to the front and ran away from the competition and ran herself into the record books with both a school record and a meet record. She has shown great fitness in training and I expected her to run well today, but she was even better than what I might have predicted. She is a quiet unassuming kid until the gun goes off and then she flips a switch competes with a viciousness that is punishing to her opponents. Today was only her second steeplechase competition ever. It was a pretty remarkable performance given her inexperience. Our other plebe champion today was Georgia Jones. I have exhausted my vocabulary of superlatives when it comes to her. She was third in the 1500 today and although that was a disappointing outcome for her it was a point boost for our team and a great learning experience for her. She is still learning a lot about championship racing and given the lack of competitive opportunities for her this spring there was bound to be some trial and error when she competed against people with skills equal to hers. She met her match today in the 1500 against some women that were far more experienced than her and she learned what it feels like to run in a crowd. She didn't like it. I say all of this because she is a quick learner. So when the 5k gun went off she shot right to the front with the leader and stuck right on her shoulder for the entirety of the race. She has only run the 5k one other time so we were not sure what kind of pace she could handle today, but it turned out well for her and she used her considerable speed to pull away over the last 400m to win her first conference title. She set a new meet record in the process and broke a school record that has stood for 35 years. She is an exceptional talent.

"In the end I told our team to have a short memory about this loss. There is a lot more that these women can accomplish and we need to move forward and continue get better."

UP NEXT
The Black Knights will compete in the ECAC Championships from May 14-16.