Army West Point Athletics
Army Women Finish 1-2 in Shot Put on Day Two of Ben Brown Invite
March 14, 2023 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
FULLERTON, CA - Army West Point track & field wrapped up the Ben Brown Invite hosted by Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, with Aysia Salas highlighting the day with a victory in the shot put.
Starting the day with field events, Aysia Salas claimed the top spot in shot put with a 15.10m mark, while Kayley Ragazzini tabbed second-place with a 14.95m. Kyle Patel paced the men's side with a top-five finish after a 15.65m throw.
In the discus throw, Jake Nwosu and Karly Parcell led the way for the Black Knights. Nwosu (49.84m) took ninth-place while Parcell's 46.34m took eighth in the women's competition.
Saydee Aganus carried over her strong hurdle performances from the indoor season, coming in second-place in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.11s. Freshman Austin Hernandez claimed seventh on the men's side with a 14.74s in the 110m hurdles.
Patricia Albornoz (8th, 3.75m) and Brian McSweeney (9th, 4.65m) stood out on the pole vault for the Black Knights.
The Army women also claimed a second-place finish in the 4x400 relay, as the quarter of Hannah Andrews, Ever Elegon, Monica Smith and Chadon Foreman secured a time of 3:54.45.
FULL RESULTS
Coach's Corner
"The weather cleared for us today and we capitalized on it with some nice improvements and some program all time performances. Saydee Aganus got things rolling with her runner up finish in the 100 hurdles. Her hurdling has gotten better and better this year and I think she is close to a big breakthrough Her fitness is as good as it has ever been and once she cleans up a few technical issues her time will improve significantly. Aysia and Kayley went 1-2 in the shot put and both women threw personal bests. They now sit number 4 and 5 on the Army all time performance list. In the pole vault today Suzie Albornoz cleared a lifetime best 3.75 meters (12' 3.5") and moved up to number 4 on the army all time list. Suzie was a 10' 6" vaulter in high school and by today's standards that mark is not very competitive. But Suzie never let the past dictate her future. She is a great example of what can happen if you just show up and work hard every day. For close to four years she has reported to practice and tried to get better. She has gotten incrementally better during those years but has never quite broken through to score at Army Navy or the conference meet. Yet somehow that never deterred her. I think she is just wired to keep pushing.  So when we looked to fill the roster for this trip, we looked at how she had been working and her improvement level and decided that she had earned the right to come out here to train and compete. I told our team at a meeting tonight that the value of this trip is the work that we can get done but it is also valuable because we can compete. So today when I wandered over to the vault and saw Suzie clearing bars I thought to myself, "she looks pretty good. I wonder what that bar is?" Then when I inquired I discovered that she was jumping at her personal best (3.75 meters), which is a bar that will almost always score at army navy and or the conference meet. Then she cleared it and the competition moved up to 3.90 which is over the Academy record of 3.87. She didn't clear that bar but that isn't really the point. A kid that was hardly competitive in high school and toiled away on the fringe of our roster for 3 years, nearly vaulted our school record today.  Hard work and perseverance put her in a position to jump at this meet, and she made the most of that opportunity. Her success was a great teaching moment for our team." - Director of Track & Field Mike Smith
Up Next
Army will compete in the Penn Challenge hosted by the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday, March 18.
Starting the day with field events, Aysia Salas claimed the top spot in shot put with a 15.10m mark, while Kayley Ragazzini tabbed second-place with a 14.95m. Kyle Patel paced the men's side with a top-five finish after a 15.65m throw.
In the discus throw, Jake Nwosu and Karly Parcell led the way for the Black Knights. Nwosu (49.84m) took ninth-place while Parcell's 46.34m took eighth in the women's competition.
Saydee Aganus carried over her strong hurdle performances from the indoor season, coming in second-place in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.11s. Freshman Austin Hernandez claimed seventh on the men's side with a 14.74s in the 110m hurdles.
Patricia Albornoz (8th, 3.75m) and Brian McSweeney (9th, 4.65m) stood out on the pole vault for the Black Knights.
The Army women also claimed a second-place finish in the 4x400 relay, as the quarter of Hannah Andrews, Ever Elegon, Monica Smith and Chadon Foreman secured a time of 3:54.45.
FULL RESULTS
Coach's Corner
"The weather cleared for us today and we capitalized on it with some nice improvements and some program all time performances. Saydee Aganus got things rolling with her runner up finish in the 100 hurdles. Her hurdling has gotten better and better this year and I think she is close to a big breakthrough Her fitness is as good as it has ever been and once she cleans up a few technical issues her time will improve significantly. Aysia and Kayley went 1-2 in the shot put and both women threw personal bests. They now sit number 4 and 5 on the Army all time performance list. In the pole vault today Suzie Albornoz cleared a lifetime best 3.75 meters (12' 3.5") and moved up to number 4 on the army all time list. Suzie was a 10' 6" vaulter in high school and by today's standards that mark is not very competitive. But Suzie never let the past dictate her future. She is a great example of what can happen if you just show up and work hard every day. For close to four years she has reported to practice and tried to get better. She has gotten incrementally better during those years but has never quite broken through to score at Army Navy or the conference meet. Yet somehow that never deterred her. I think she is just wired to keep pushing.  So when we looked to fill the roster for this trip, we looked at how she had been working and her improvement level and decided that she had earned the right to come out here to train and compete. I told our team at a meeting tonight that the value of this trip is the work that we can get done but it is also valuable because we can compete. So today when I wandered over to the vault and saw Suzie clearing bars I thought to myself, "she looks pretty good. I wonder what that bar is?" Then when I inquired I discovered that she was jumping at her personal best (3.75 meters), which is a bar that will almost always score at army navy and or the conference meet. Then she cleared it and the competition moved up to 3.90 which is over the Academy record of 3.87. She didn't clear that bar but that isn't really the point. A kid that was hardly competitive in high school and toiled away on the fringe of our roster for 3 years, nearly vaulted our school record today.  Hard work and perseverance put her in a position to jump at this meet, and she made the most of that opportunity. Her success was a great teaching moment for our team." - Director of Track & Field Mike Smith
Up Next
Army will compete in the Penn Challenge hosted by the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday, March 18.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
/ Men's Track and Field
/ Men's Track and Field
/ Men's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
/ Men's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
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