Gibson, Mikoud, Tovkach Shine at Virginia Tech Invitational

Friday, January 14

Blacksburg, VA

Army West Point

Virginia Tech Invitational

Gibson, Mikoud, Tovkach Shine at Virginia Tech Invitational

January 15, 2022 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Day 1 Results Day 2 Results

MEET 3
MEET	Virginia Tech Invitational
RESULTS	Day 1 \| Day 2
TEAMS	Virginia Tech, Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse, Virginia, Tennessee, Army, UNC Charlotte, High Point, VCU
LOCATION	Rector Field House

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point men's and women's indoor track and field teams had several standouts during the two-day Virginia Tech Invitational. Jamir Gibson broke a 49-year old service academy record in the weight throw. Emily Mikoud broke the school and service academy record in the weight throw. Anna Tovkach had two solid races in winning the 400m.

MEET SUMMARY
Day 1

Jamir Gibson set the Army and Service Academy record in the Weight Throw (20.79)
Emily Mikoud broke the Army and Service Academy record with the 4^th best mark in the NCAA this season in the weight throw (21.71)
Four women and three men qualified for the weight throw final
Marshall Beatty set a personal best in the 3000.
Anna Tovkach won her heat in the 500 (1:13.57).

Day 2

Jamir Gibson captured the shot put event (18.65m)
Anna Tovkach won the 400 m (56.76) with Emma Taylor finishing second.
The women 4x400m relay team recorded the second-fastest time in program history (3:46.62) to finish third.
Luke Griner won the men's 800m (1:52.81).
Elijah Bellamy finished first in the 400m followed by Kevin Sembrat.
Emily Fink placed second in the shot put (15.81)

EVENT WINNERS
Women
400m – Anna Tovkach (56.76)

Men
400m – Elijah Bellamy (48.5)
800m – Luke Griner (1:52.81)
Shot Put – Jamir Gibson (18.65m)

COACH'S CORNER
On Friday's performance…
"We scheduled this meet so that we could get multiple events over multiple days of competition. I also really wanted to expose both of our teams to demanding competition so that they would have to earn their way to wins and finals and more attempts. It is something that was missing last year so we needed to do this meet and compete against the ACC and SEC schools and get out of our comfort zone. We certainly experienced a little of that tonight but in many cases, we were very good.

Justin Young impressed me with both of his hurdle races and looks like the guy that set the Patriot League record back in 2019. Anna Tovkach had a strong performance in the 500 in winning her heat going away. Marshall Beatty ran a personal best in the 3000 and almost came away with the win. There were numerous other good results and the normal ups and downs of a track meet but the results from our men and women in the weight throw were historically good. We put four women into the final of the women's weight throw and three in the men's final. Jamir Gibson finished second and his mark of 20.79 eclipsed the Army school record and the service academy record. The service academy record was held by a Navy athlete and had stood since 1973 so what we saw from Jamir today was historic. He now holds the service academy record for the indoor shot put and the indoor weight throw. I feel confident in saying that indoors he is the best male thrower in Army history and the best male thrower to ever attend a service academy. He has a full indoor season ahead of him so I expect that we will have more to say about him in the coming weeks. As good as Jamir was tonight Emily Mikoud might have been even better She threw the 20lb weight 21.71m which is 71' 2.75". That mark is a full meter farther than her service academy record and school record. It is also the number four mark in the NCAA and while it is early in the season that mark has always made the NCAA meet. Today was undoubtedly the best day ever for the Army men and women in the weight throw. We have a full day of events tomorrow and more opportunities to improve."

On Saturday's performance…
"Quite a few good performances for us today. Some of our success was in the form of good performances but we also managed to win some events and that is probably what I value most. Some of the top marks were on the oval today. Eli Bellamy won the 400 and executed a nice race plan. Kevin Sembrat was a close second. Both of those guys looked pretty good. We also ran pretty well in the men's 800. Luke Griner opened up in that event for the first time this year and ran a strong race. His time was a nice indoor personal best and sets him up well for future races.

We also won the women's 400. Anna Tovkach commanded the race from the early going and ran strongly to the line. We brought all of those people back for the 4x400 and I thought our women's team was outstanding. We have quite a few options to run the relay and the women stepped up today. We had hoped to get our school record but missed it by .02 seconds but the 3:46 that we ran ranks as the number two all-time performance in our program.

In the field, Jamir Gibson won the men's shot put finishing off a great weekend for him. Emily Fink had another improvement in the women's shot. She is still number two all-time behind Emily Mikoud but getting closer and closer to that 16-meter mark. In the end, I wanted to see our team get pushed out of their comfort zone and see how we reacted. By and large, we did a good job of managing things and the results are a good start to the competitive season." - Mike Smith

CADETS' CORNER

#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/jvS2W6zh3x
— Army Track & XC (@ArmyWP_TrackXC) January 16, 2022

UP NEXT
The Black Knights will head to University Park, Pa. to compete at the Penn State National Open on January 21-22.

For complete coverage of Army West Point cross country and track and field, follow the Black Knights on Twitter (ArmyWP_TrackXC) and Instagram (goarmytrack) and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.