Army West Point Athletics
Stratman & Ragazzini Collect Victories for Women's Track & Field at Day One of Patriot League Outdoor Championships
May 06, 2023 | Women's Track and Field
BETHLEHEM, PA - Army West Point women's track& field sits in second place after day one of the Patriot League Outdoor Championships hosted by Lehigh University.
Brooke Stratman (javelin throw) and Kayley Ragazzini (hammer throw) led the Black Knights with first-place finishes to cap a dominant day from the Army throwers.
Ragazzini posted a personal-best distance of 59.31m to take home the hammer throw title, topping the second-place finisher by 1.49m. Stratman's win was convincing as well, with her 50.91m mark being 3.83m ahead of the next best distance.
Isabel Crandall led Army in the pole vault with a 3.72m mark, claiming a fourth-place finish with Samantha Sheppard-Moore (3.57m) in fifth-place.
The Black Knights took home third-place in the 4x800 relay, with the quartet of Quinn Collins, Melissa Jachim, Erika Rapp and Joanna Halfhill recording a total time of 8:58.65.
In the heptathlon, Zoe Eggleston logged a third-place finish in the shot put with her 10.67m mark. She went on to post a third-place finish in the 200m, with a time of 25.99s.
FULLÂ RESULTS
Coach's Corner
"I thought we battled today. We had some missed opportunities that could come back to hurt us tomorrow but we also had some outstanding wins and some nice surprises. I always feel like there is a chance that we could have a mistake free championship but that is almost never how it goes. The strength of our team right now is in the throws group and that is where we were most successful today. Kayley Ragazzini opened the scoring for us by winning the hammer throw with a new personal best 59.37 meters (191' 7"). She keeps getting better and better and I like her chances to put up some big marks again tomorrow in the shot and discus. She has been the most consistent and valuable woman on our entire team this spring and today's win was a big boost for our team scoring. Brooke Stratman continued her great outdoor season with a dominating performance in the women's javelin. She has been the best woman in the conference all season and was not challenged today. It only takes one good throw to win the event and Brooke's second throw today far surpassed anything else that she did out there today. She was very confident heading into the meet today so it was no surprise that she was able to connect in round 2 and put up the winning 50 meter throw. That mark was over 3 meters better than the 2nd place finisher. It was a dominating win. We picked up some nice points in the pole vault from Isabel Crandall and Samantha Sheppard-Moore. The weather was a factor in the event today as the wind swirled around and some rain fell and then the sun came out. It was difficult to establish any rhythm and some of the favorites from other teams were unable to even clear one bar.Our women handled the situation very well and their early bars were easy makes while other struggled. Isabel always shows up at the big meets and today was more of the same.She was seeded 12th coming into the meet but she is such a gamer that we knew she would be in the scoring places at the end and when it all got sorted out she finished 4th and Sam finished tied for 5th. We did ok in qualifying on the track today. I can't say we were great because we definitely left some points out there.  But as is the case in most championships, we have some people that will make up for our losses today with some wins tomorrow." - Director of Track & Field Mike Smith
Army will return for day two with field events beginning at 9:00 a.m. with the ESPN+ stream beginning at noon with the track events.
Brooke Stratman (javelin throw) and Kayley Ragazzini (hammer throw) led the Black Knights with first-place finishes to cap a dominant day from the Army throwers.
Ragazzini posted a personal-best distance of 59.31m to take home the hammer throw title, topping the second-place finisher by 1.49m. Stratman's win was convincing as well, with her 50.91m mark being 3.83m ahead of the next best distance.
Isabel Crandall led Army in the pole vault with a 3.72m mark, claiming a fourth-place finish with Samantha Sheppard-Moore (3.57m) in fifth-place.
The Black Knights took home third-place in the 4x800 relay, with the quartet of Quinn Collins, Melissa Jachim, Erika Rapp and Joanna Halfhill recording a total time of 8:58.65.
In the heptathlon, Zoe Eggleston logged a third-place finish in the shot put with her 10.67m mark. She went on to post a third-place finish in the 200m, with a time of 25.99s.
FULLÂ RESULTS
Coach's Corner
"I thought we battled today. We had some missed opportunities that could come back to hurt us tomorrow but we also had some outstanding wins and some nice surprises. I always feel like there is a chance that we could have a mistake free championship but that is almost never how it goes. The strength of our team right now is in the throws group and that is where we were most successful today. Kayley Ragazzini opened the scoring for us by winning the hammer throw with a new personal best 59.37 meters (191' 7"). She keeps getting better and better and I like her chances to put up some big marks again tomorrow in the shot and discus. She has been the most consistent and valuable woman on our entire team this spring and today's win was a big boost for our team scoring. Brooke Stratman continued her great outdoor season with a dominating performance in the women's javelin. She has been the best woman in the conference all season and was not challenged today. It only takes one good throw to win the event and Brooke's second throw today far surpassed anything else that she did out there today. She was very confident heading into the meet today so it was no surprise that she was able to connect in round 2 and put up the winning 50 meter throw. That mark was over 3 meters better than the 2nd place finisher. It was a dominating win. We picked up some nice points in the pole vault from Isabel Crandall and Samantha Sheppard-Moore. The weather was a factor in the event today as the wind swirled around and some rain fell and then the sun came out. It was difficult to establish any rhythm and some of the favorites from other teams were unable to even clear one bar.Our women handled the situation very well and their early bars were easy makes while other struggled. Isabel always shows up at the big meets and today was more of the same.She was seeded 12th coming into the meet but she is such a gamer that we knew she would be in the scoring places at the end and when it all got sorted out she finished 4th and Sam finished tied for 5th. We did ok in qualifying on the track today. I can't say we were great because we definitely left some points out there.  But as is the case in most championships, we have some people that will make up for our losses today with some wins tomorrow." - Director of Track & Field Mike Smith
Army will return for day two with field events beginning at 9:00 a.m. with the ESPN+ stream beginning at noon with the track events.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Track and Field
PV
/ 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
/ Women's Track and Field
PV
/ Women's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
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