Track and Field Puts In Solid Performances In Two Meets

Friday, April 15

Lewisburg, PA

Army West Point

Bucknell University

Track and Field Puts In Solid Performances In Two Meets

April 16, 2022 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Bison Outdoor Classic Larry Ellis Invitational

LEWISBURG, Pa./PRINCETON, N.J. – The Army West Point men's and women's track and field teams competed at the Bison Outdoor Classic hosted by Bucknell and the Larry Ellis Invitational hosted by Princeton this weekend.

MEETS SUMMARY
The Bucknell Outdoor Classic featured mostly those who compete in distance and power events.

Distance runners mainstays Garrett Gough and Marshall Beatty finished 1-2 in the 500m, and Caden Foster placed third in the 1500. Matthew McNamara finished second in the decathlon with 6671 points. He won three events – the Javelin, high jump, and 100m hurdles, placed second in the discus, shot put, and pole vault. On the women's side, Zoe Eggleston finished sixth in the heptathlon and Melissa Jachim had a sixth place finish in the 3000m steeplechase.

Both teams had standout performers at the Larry Ellis Invitational. Anna Tovkach continued her in-form season by setting two school records. She set her own record in the 800 with a time of 2:05.01 to narrowly finish second. She broke a 17-year record in the 400 en route to winning the event with a time of 53.88. Another school record was set in the shot put by Emily Fink (15.75m); Army also placed in fourth, sixth and seventh. Fink was third in the hammer with Emily Mikoud (56.96m) was second (61.21m). Army also won the javelin with Brooke Stratman taking the event (47.98m)

On the men's side, Justin Young won the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.03. Young and the Black Knights had more success on the track with the 4x400m relay team - Michael Altenburg, Justin Young, Kevin Sembrat, Luke Griner – winning with a 3:12.52. The 4x100m relay team placed third. In the field events, Army finished 1-2 in the hammer throw with Marco Risi winning with a personal record distance of 63.05m. Cameron Smith finished second (61.49). Chris Barrett placed fourth in the javelin throw. Jamir Gibson set a new personal record in the outdoor shot put (18.62m) which ranks seconds all-time at the Academy.

EVENT WINNERS – Larry Ellis Invitational
Women
400m – Anna Tovkach (53.88)
Javelin Throw – Brooke Stratman (47.98m)
Shot Put – Emily Fink (15.75m)

Men
Hammer Throw – Marco Risi (63.05m)
4x400m Relay – Michael Altenburg, Justin Young, Kevin Sembrat, Luke Griner (3:12.52)
110m Hurdles – Justin Young (14.03)

EVENT WINNERS – Bison Outdoor
Men
5000m – Garett Gough (13:59.6)
Decathlon #6 100m Hurdles– Matthew McNamara (15.05)
Decathlon #4 High Jump – Matthew McNamara (1.84m)
Decathlon #9 Javelin – Matthew McNamara (51.11m)

COACH'S CORNER
Bison Outdoor Meet/ Larry Ellis Invitational (Princeton) - Friday
We split our team this weekend. This is something we don't normally do but we felt like we had to provide people with the best opportunities to perform. Bucknell was a good option for the distance runners and a few of the speed power events and the Princeton meet was the best option for everyone else. The Friday distance events at Bucknell were the highlight of the meet. Garrett Gough and Marshall Beatty went 1-2 in the 5000 with Gough dipping under 14 minutes in setting the meet and facility record. Both of those guys have been very consistent all year in the distance races and they ran a patient race tonight and finished with a strong kick that broke the rest of the field. It was a great example of the kind of teamwork that will pay off at the championship meets later this spring.

Caden Foster was the other big performer at Bucknell. His third place finish in the 1500 moved him to number 4 all time at Army   It was a significant personal best for him and probably the hardest race he has ever run. He has been consistently good all year and always finishes near the front of races and Friday was no exception. In the speed power events at Bucknell, Zoe Eggleston competed in her first ever heptathlon and did a nice job. Matt McNamara shook off some early struggles to finish very well.  His second day events are comparatively strong and we saw that Friday as he put together some great marks in the vault and javelin to close out the decathlon in second place. Over at Princeton Brooke Stratman won the javelin with a very strong seasonal best mark. The throw came right when she needed it on her third attempt. In the men's hammer Marco Risi launched a personal best and he and Cameron Smith went 1-2. Marco has always been a solid technician but has struggled to perform at the level at which he has trained but tonight he showed how good he can be when he puts it all together.

The star performer at Princeton on Friday was Anna Tovkach. She led the 800 from the gun and although she was caught at the finish line, her 2:05.01 smashed her school record and places her in the top 20 in the NCAA. She was in the fast heat of the 800 and there was a rabbit assigned to take the race out but Anna decided before the gun went off that she didn't want or need anyone to muck up her race plan so she just outran the rabbit. Her confidence is pretty high right now and I think she can very likely continue to run faster times. It was a very strong run on Friday in some breezy conditions so there is more she can do as we look ahead to the post season meets.

Larry Ellis - Saturday
The weather was ideal for track and field at Princeton and we had almost all of our speed and power athletes competing here. Our men's and women's teams are both currently ranked No. 2 in the Northeast Region and our depth and talent was on display here in almost all of the events. Both of our 4x100m relays did a nice job of getting the stick around. The women's team looked good in their exchanges and a few of those were pretty close so we can run quite a bit faster with some bigger spacing. Justin Young was a winner for us in the 110 hurdles today and had a fairly clean race. He has had some struggles with his start to hurdle 1 but today he got a good start and then was the best hurdler from hurdle 2 to the finish. He often hammers the hurdles but today he only clipped a few.
We had a big day in the throws. In the women's shot we went 1,4,6,7 and Emily Fink won the event and set a new school record in the process. She now owns both the indoor and the outdoor shot records for Army in her first year at the academy. On the men's side Jamir Gibson finished well in both the discus and the shot put. His shot put mark of 18.62 was a new personal best and he is now number 2 all-time at Army.

Anna Tovkach came back today in the 400 and looked powerful in winning the event in 53.88. That time is a new Army West Point school record eclipsing the mark set by Dominique Mcleggan in 2005. Anna has been locked in on breaking that record and it was great to see her crush it today. Anna now holds a total of seven program records between indoor and outdoor track. Only Calli McMullen holds more program records (8) than Anna.

We closed out the day with a nice win in the 4x400m relay. The guys have been looking to put up a better time in the relay and we won easily with a veteran lineup of proven guys. That lineup featured the return of Kevin Sembrat to the competitive arena. He pulled up in the 200 at the conference meet indoors so we have missed his ability and his leadership over there last couple of months but now we have him back and we looked a lot more competitive out there. We have a lot of opportunities remaining to put up some good performances and we got a good start on that this weekend.

UP NEXT

Army will compete at the Virginia Challenge hosted by the University of Virginia on April 22-23.

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.