More Records Set At David Hemery Valentine Invite

Friday, February 11

Boston, MA

Army West Point

David Hemery Valentine Invite

More Records Set At David Hemery Valentine Invite

February 13, 2022 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Day 1 Results Day 2 Results

MEET 7
MEET	DAVID HEMERY VALENTINE INVITE
RESULTS	NTS
LOCATION	Boston University - Track & Tennis Center

BOSTON – The Army West Point men's and women's indoor track and field team had standouts break program marks during the two-day David Hemery Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University.

MEET SUMMARY
As Army continued to build for the conference championship at the end of the month, the Black Knights stepped up in a several events in one of the more competitive fields of the season.

On Friday, there were a half dozen top-10 all-time performances in the sprints and distant races. Georgia Jones set the 3000m program record and the men's distance medley relay team of Mitchell Burr, Kevin Sembrat, Luke Griner, and Caden Foster finished with an NCAA top-10 time (9:39.65) to set a new program mark. In the field events, Emily Mikoud finished first in the weight throw (20.55m). She has finished in either first or second place in the weight throw in five meets this winter.

On Saturday, Marshall Beatty set the 3000m program record with a time of 7:56.20, breaking two-time Olympian Dan Browne's time of 7:57.43 set in 1997. Jamir Gibson once again won the shot put (18.06m) for the sixth time in seven events. He also placed second in the weight throw (20.58m). Jon Redmond ran the 200m (21.50) in the second-fastest time in program history.

EVENT WINNERS
Women
Weight Throw – Emily Mikoud (20.55m)

Men
400m DMR – Mitchell Burr, Kevin Sembra, Luke Griner, Caden Foster (9:39.65)
Shot Put – Jamir Gibson (18.06m)

COACH'S CORNER

Friday
"I expected that we would have some all-time marks today from this meet. Teams from all over the country come here with the intent to run fast and that is what happened tonight. The meet is not just about the track events, but the majority of the best marks come from those events There was an American record in the women's 5000, and that type of performance illustrates the kind of competition at the meet. Those types of performances drive everyone else to reach for their individual best. It was a very impressive day of competition. We had half a dozen top 10 all-time performances here in the sprints and distance races. The highlights were the school records in the women's 3000m and the men's distance medley. We have not tried to line up a quality DMR (distance medley relay) since I have been here but this group of guys has been pretty solid all year so we thought we would see what we could run. We ran Mitchell Burr on the 1200, Kevin Sembrat on the 400, Luke Griner on the 800, and Caden Foster on the anchor leg. It was a solid and experienced group. I also knew that we would probably be on our own in the race because the teams that entered did not have as much potential as we did. As it turned out we ran pretty much as I expected and our winning time of 9:39 set a new school record and put us in the top 10 on the NCAA list for the time being. Caden brought it home with a 4:04 anchor for the mile leg and got us the win with a string finish but each split was strong. Burr was 2:59, Sembrat was 46.5 and Griner was 1:49.6. The previous record had stood since 1995 so the run was quite an accomplishment for our men. The guys all did just about exactly what we needed them to do. It was a pleasure to watch them compete and a good win.

The other record on Friday came from Georgia Jones in the women's 3000m. The previous record was set by Abigail Halbrook in 2019 so Georgia is in good company. I felt confident that she could run pretty well given the way she ran last week at Army-Navy but I didn't expect her to have to run from the front in the race. The early pace was slow so she moved right to the lead and never relinquished it. She is very difficult to beat when she is on her game and she was committed to winning today. I think we are going to see some very fast times from her in the coming months. Other than the men's DMR today was entirely a women's meet. Most of our people were here to sharpen up for the Patriot League meet in two weeks and we got a lot accomplished.

Saturday

It was another historic day and night here in Boston. One collegiate record and one American record were set here and the energy from those performances carried over to each race that followed. In the field events, Jamir Gibson took home another shot put win. He has been almost unbearable all winter and today was another example of his consistency. Our men on the track put up some all-time marks and set one new Army program record. Our sprint/hurdle guys started things off for us with some great competitive efforts. Justin Young equaled the best time of his life in getting second in the hurdle final. He has had some ups and downs with that event this season but today he was much cleaner over the hurdles and was rewarded with the 7.87 result. Jon Redmond put together a nice race in the 200. He moved into second all-time on the list for Army with his 21.50. He has been our most consistent 60m sprinter this season but success in the 200 had eluded him until tonight. It was a great run for him. Caden Foster ran the third-fastest mile time in the history of the academy. He had hoped to break 4 minutes here today and with 2 laps to go there was a chance that he could do it but he ended up just missing it with his 4:01.52 result. He was very patient early in the race and through the 800 he was in the middle of the pack at 2:01. At that point, we thought he might get under 4 but the next two laps slowed a little and his furious finish came up just short. Garret Gough was the surprise performer of the day with his 13:55 5000 meter result. It was a magical evening for the 5k heats. The American record was set in the top heat and each race that followed seemed to be propelled forward by that result. Garrett was buried in one of the later heats but that didn't deter him or the guys in that race from hammering the pace early. He did a good job of staying patient with the fast pace and never letting the leaders get very far away. He closed well and ran the fastest 5k in our program in the last 25 years. The highlight of the night was the 3000m run by Marshall Beatty. Two-time Olympian Dan Browne is the gold standard in Army distance running. He holds the mile, the 3k, and the 5k Army records and for most of my time here at Army those marks have been untouchable. Then Marshall Beatty showed up here and brought a whole different idea and definition of "good". His mindset has driven the pursuit of excellence embraced by this group of guys and what we saw last night in the DMR and tonight in the distance races was an all-out assault on the Army distance running historical record. In all, the guys put up two school records and three additional top-3 all-time marks. Marshall led the charge with his 7:56.20 3000m run. He was hunting the leaders throughout the race and charged hard to the line to get the new record. It was the fulfillment of a goal that he had set for quite some time and he looked great doing it.

This was a pretty good weekend for both of our teams and I think we have some good momentum as we head into the postseason meets." – Mike Smith

UP NEXT
The Black Knights return home to host the West Point Tune-Up on Saturday, February 19.

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.