Army Performs Well At Penn State National Open

Friday, January 21

University Park, PA

Army West Point

Penn State National Open

Army Performs Well At Penn State National Open

January 22, 2022 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Results

MEET 4
MEET	Penn State National
RESULTS	No Team Score
TEAMS	Army, Penn State, Binghamton, Maryland, UMBC, Towson, Buffalo, Ashland, Norfolk State, Duquesne
LOCATION	Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The Army West Point men's and women's indoor track and field team competed at the Penn State National Open on January. 21-22.

MEET SUMMARY
Day 1

Abigail Green placed fourth in the weight throw (19.05m).
Justin Young finished third in the 60m (7.94).
Ethan Hesson's 4.70m in the pole vault earned him a second place finish.
Jamir Gibson had a third place finish in the weight throw (19.56m), followed by a personal-best by Cameron Smith (19.27m), and Deven McNeal (18.90m).

Day 2

Luke Griner won the 800m (1:51.32)
The Men's 4x400 relay team rallied past Penn State and Maryland to win the race.
Jamir Gibson won the shot put (17.92m) for the fourth straight meet.
Anna Tovkach broke her own school record in the 800 (2:06.84) to finish third.
Emily Fink set a personal record with a third-place finish in the shot put (15.85m).

EVENT WINNERS
Women

Distance medley relay – Melissa Jachim, Shayla Bonzelet, Quinn Collins, Georgia Jones (12:10.66)

Men

800m - Luke Griner (1:51.32)
4x400 relay – Elijah Bellamy, Justin Young, Luke Griner, Kevin Sembrat (3:12.66)
Medley Relay – Mitchell Burr, Ryan McDonaugh, Jeremian Rasmussen, Marshall Beatty (10:00.22)
Shot put – Jamir Gibson (17.92m)

COACH'S CORNER

On Friday's performance…
We had a good first day. The schedule of events was light with the majority of competition taking place tomorrow. Having said that we had some good performances. Our women in the weight throw had a great weekend last week so it was a big positive to see them show some consistency today. Abigail Green is getting better and better and while she did not put up a new personal best today, she did get back over 19 meters and is looking better and better. The guys in the men's weight were also able to put up some personal bests in what turned out to be a very competitive field. Jamir (Gibson) has gotten most of the headlines thus far but the marks from Cameron Smith and Deven McNeal have been steadily improving and increasingly competitive. Cameron was the one today who had the personal best and I think there is a lot more that he can do as we go forward. He is only a sophomore so his upward trajectory is encouraging. The other highlight from tonight was the performance of Justin Young in the hurdles. While his 7.94 was not the best time he has ever run it was the best we have seen from him in three years. He was a star for us as a plebe and then battled injuries as a sophomore and again last year. His strength and speed are far superior to where he was a few years ago so if he continues to improve technically I would expect him to run pretty fast by the time we get to the championship season. He is one of the best athletes to ever come through this program and it is great to see him competing again at a high level. Tomorrow will be challenging in many events and our people will be tested. That is what we need and I look forward to seeing how our team handles adversity.

On Saturday's performance
We were tested today and our collective response was good and in some events we were better than good. A track meet is a circus. The oval is often the centerpiece of the meet and the field events can get lost if there is not attention drawn toward those competitors. Our throwers do a great job of being supportive of each other and the energy at the shot ring today was electric. So it was easy to follow what was going on over there. Jamir (Gibson) won the shot and while the mark was not his best it was good enough for him to take home the title. He has reached a level of consistency that is difficult to match. The weight and shot are technically different events and mastery of one is a challenge in itself but dominance in two is rare. What we are seeing from him right now is unmatched in Army history, Patriot League history and service academy history. There is a lot of season remaining and I won't be surprised if he adds more records and titles to his resume. While he has been garnering much of the headlines for his performance I would be remiss if I didn't mention his leadership skills. One of our plebes (Luke Noonan) came to us with some modest PRs and has steadily improved. Coach Hershberger has done a nice job with him but Jamir has been right there placing expectation in his shoulders and he has really responded. He earned some press today with his big improvement in the shot. He has been steadily improving in practice and today it all paid off with two nice throws over 15 meters. He is one of those young guys that just shows up to work each day and today we saw how hard work can pay off.

Emily Fink is quietly creeping closer and closer to the indoor shot record. She is just a freshman and has improved her shot put best by seven feet since she won a state title in Wisconsin last May. Her best throw today was over 52' (15.85m) and is now within 25 centimeters of the all time best mark at army. She is still learning the event so there is very likely more improvement to come as we get into the championship meets.

The field has been where we have had the most success this season, until today. We lined up on the oval with some of our best people in their best events against some great competition. Luke Griner won the men's 800 and while it was not a record setting time it was a commanding win and the best performance he has ever had. He is a smart racer and brought great execution to the race today and was rewarded with a convincing win. Our athletes in the middle distance races tend to improve somewhat linearly as we get farther along in the season and we saw a lot of that today. Quite a few of the 800 guys put up personal bests. Some of that is the track and the meet, but it is mostly just a function of the week to week competition at a high level where these athletes are forced to run at maximal levels repeatedly.

We saw similar high-level results in the men's 400 today. Kevin Sembrat has been one of our most dependable athletes for a number of years now. He has great range in the events that he can run and he is a fierce competitor. So today we put him out there three times and he was great each time. In the 400 his 47.92 is fourth all time at the academy. In the 200, he ran 21.66 which is also fourth all time at Army and then he anchored our 4x400 to a dramatic win. We were second in the race behind Maryland and just ahead of Penn State after the lead off leg but we slowly climbed back into the race and at the final exchange we were neck and neck with both. The penultimate lap was a 3-man race to get to the bell first and Kevin burst to the lead as the three men crossed the finish line. He pulled away on the backstretch and the 80-person travel party that we brought to the meet erupted as he drove toward the line for the win.

I wouldn't normally describe a mid season non championship race in so much detail but it has been a couple of years since our team has really been able to participate in a real track meet. We celebrated the win like it was a major title and while it was very exciting. I think the celebration was more a reflection of how good it feels to return to real competition after a year like last year with so many challenges. The final time of 3:12.66 was the fourth best time ever run at the academy and was without a doubt the loudest race of the entire meet. While the 4x4 was the best race of the day, the best performance of the day came from Anna Tovkach in the women's 800. We planned for this meet to be her opener in the 800 meters an event in which she is our program record holder both indoors and outdoors. Today in a very close race she broke her own school record set two years ago in Boston.

She has been training at a very high level all year and todays result is a good starting point for her as we move into the championship season. She was somewhat disappointed in the way she ran today and the fact that she didn't win. Much of that can be attributed to the complete washout that was our indoor season a year ago because of the pandemic. I think as she gets more races under her belt she will execute at a higher level and could do I rue to lower her time. She holds herself to a very high standard which is part of what makes her such an alpha performer. That fire in her will serve her well in the championship meets that are coming soon. We can now point toward Boston next weekend at what many consider to be one of the fastest 200meter tracks in the country.

CADET'S CORNER

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— Army Track & XC (@ArmyWP_TrackXC) January 23, 2022

UP NEXT
The Black Knights will head to Boston to compete at the John Thomas Terrier Classic on January 28-29.

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.