Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
John Thomas Terrier Classic
Smith Sets Weight Throw Academy as Men's Track & Field Competes at BU & Penn State
January 30, 2023 | Men's Track and Field
BOSTON, MA – Cam Smith set a new academy record in the weight throw this past weekend, as Army West Point men's track & field competed at the Penn State National Open and Boston University Terrier Classic.
Smith's mark of 21.21m set a new standard for the program, which also set a new service academy record. Smith landed in third place in the event down at Penn State, while Ethan Hull posted a second-place finish in the pole vault (4.85m).
At Boston University, Army saw a trio of top-five finishers in the running events. Kasen Jeitz posted a 1:04.15 time to place third in the 500m, with Ryan McDonagh coming in close behind at 1:04:35 for a fifth-place showing. Luke Griner continued his fine indoor season with a 5th-place finish in the 800m (1:49.85). Garrett Gough led the distance runners for the Black Knights, with a 8:03.46 run in the 3000m.
Army Top Finishers
Boston U Terrier Classic (Full Results)
500m: Kasen Jeitz (1:04.15) - 3rd
800m: Luke Griner (1:49.85) - 5th
1000m: Gideon Rothschild (2:27.39) - 12th
3000m: Garrett Gough (8:03.48) - 26th
5000m: Erick Lara (14:34.26) - 32nd
Penn State National Open (Full Results)
High Jump: Talon Estes (1.95m) - 12th
Pole Vault: Ethan Hull (4.85m) - 2nd
Shot Put: Kyle Patel (15.24m) - 12th
Weight Throw: Cam Smith (21.21m) - 3rd
Coach's Corner
"We sent our speed and power athletes to Penn State this weekend and our middle distance and distance runners to Boston University. The track at BU is one of the fastest in the world so it makes sense for our athletes on the oval to compete at that venue. The runways at Penn State are fast and the throws competition and venue provides the best opportunity for our throwers to test themselves. We had great results from both meets. The highlight of the day/night was Cameron Smith's new Academy record 21.21m (69' 7") and Service Academy record in the weight throw. Jamir Gibson set the mark last year at 21.20 meters (69' 6.5"). Cameron had his sights set on that record. He opened up in December with a 20-meter throw but took a step backward after the holiday break. He has been working hard in recent weeks and the technical issues that plagued him recently were not an issue today. He had a good series in the prelim with a 20-meter throw on his third attempt and then on his final attempt he hit it just right to narrowly surpass Jamir's mark by 1 cm. At the BU meet we had some nice improvements on our season bests with Garrett Gough leading the results in the 3k. The energy at the BU track is electric. Everyone that comes to this meet, knows that the track produces good times and the races start fast and finish fast. We saw two American records today. Both the men's 3k and 5k were broken and although our guys were not in the same heat as the record breakers, they toed the line shortly after those races and fed off the energy of the crowd. Garrett's mark of 8:03 moved him up to 5th all-time on the Army top 10 list. He is a great racer and we saw his competitive spirit today as he hung on against a very competitive field of runners. We had a few other significant marks at both meets but none that cracked the top 10 lists. Our focus today was sharpening for the Army Navy meet next weekend and we had quite a few guys set themselves up for success based on how they competed today. Tomorrow we will have a mix of more events at Penn State and our women will take to the track at BU." - Director of Track & Field Mike Smith
Up Next
Army will return home to take on Navy in the indoor Star Meet on Feb. 4 at 11:00 a.m. from Gillis Field House.
Players Mentioned
