Track and Field Completes Patriot League Championships

Friday, February 23

Boston, MA

Army West Point

Patriot League Championships

Track and Field Completes Patriot League Championships

February 25, 2024 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

BOSTON – The Army West Point track and field teams wrapped up the Patriot League Championships with two individual titles on either side. They men finished in second place with 152.5 points. The women came in third with 135 points.

Luke Griner set the meet record in the 800m to bring home the crown. Emma Taylor set a meet record in the 60m to win that. Joshua Gilliard won the high jump and Kayley Ragazzini won the shot put.

The women's shot put was one of the highlights of the day for the Black Knights. After Ragazzini came Jordan Hecht in second, Aysia Salas in third, Sara Shadi in sixth, and Barbara Antwi in eight to give Army 28 points in a single event. 28 points are the most points in a single event that any team had in the Patriot League Championships.

The women impressed scoring in all but two events. 14 more points came in the mile with Mikayla Cheney coming in second and Joanna Halfhill coming in third. Cheney turned around and got five points in the 800m with a time of 2:10.97. Saydee Agnaus snagged eight points with her second place finish in the 60m hurdles. Emma Taylor continued her impressive day with eight points in the 200m. Isabella Palchak got a point in the high jump after tying for seventh place. Charlotte Richman picked up six with a third place performance in the 3000m. The DMR squad of Ava Bushaw, Shayla Bonzelet, Melissa Jachim and Joanna Halfhill scored five points. Lastly, the 4x400m team of Ever Elegon, Lara Westwood-Marsh, Cherokee Chambers, and Emma Taylor placed second to score eight points.

The men scored in all but two events as well. Their best performance came in the 800m where they picked up 20 points. Griner won, Kasen Jeitz coming in third, Ammon Smith coming in sixth, and Mitchell Burr in eighth. On top of Joshua Gilliard's win in the high jump, Austin Hernandez came in a tie for 6th to win 2.5 points. In the heptathlon Canyon Hall came in third for six points. Thomas Vo scooped up four points in the mile. Hernandez got five points in the 60m hurdles. Brian Matthews, Nathaniel Nelson, Shawn Carter, and Elijah Bellamy scored a combined 13 points in the 400m. Nine points came from Jaxon Hammond and Joshua Duncan in the 60m. Bobby Manse and Luke Noonan combined for 11 points in the shot put. Javan Guevara-Cragwell and Brett Wingard combined for eight points in the triple jump. Six points came in the 200m with Trey McGinnis coming in fourth and Brian Matthews coming in eighth. Nathan Davis snagged four points in the 3000m. The DMR team of Mitchell Burr, Elijah Bellamy, Gideon Rothschild, and Adam Furman came in sixth to pick up three points.

COACHES CORNER

Women
We had some outstanding individual performances today, but our collective point total was not enough to get a podium finish. We took home two individual titles on the day from two proven performers. Kayley Ragazzini finished her career with a shot put title leading us in a 1-2-3 finish. Her winning throw of 15.52 meters (50' 11") was just short of her all-time best but is a good indicator of just how consistent she has become as a competitor and a leader on our team. The shot was an event that we thought we could dominate, and we did exactly that. Our 28 points in that event were the most in any event by any team in the entire meet. We have now won the women's shot put for 8 consecutive years. Emma Taylor brought home the other win for us today in the 60 meter dash. Her winning mark of 7.46 seconds set a new meet record, a new school record and is the fastest 60 meter time ever run by a service academy woman. Emma has had a remarkable season and her performance today in the 60 was the first win for us in that event since Calli McMullen brought home a title in 2018. Emma came back to earn a runner-up finish in the 200 meters and anchored our women's 4x400 meter relay to a 2^nd place finish to close out the meet. That relay ran 3:43.00 to set a new all-time academy record in the event and Emma's relay split of 53.75 was the fastest carry in the meet. Ever Elegon, Lara Westwood Marsh, and Skye Chambers all ran strong legs to get us to the runner-up finish. It was the third time this year we have broken the school record in the 4x400 meter relay. Although we did not finish where we had hoped to finish, our record-breaking performances and the strong competitive efforts of our team were good signs as we head into the outdoor season.

Men
Our runner-up finish today in the team standings was not what we had hoped for. We continue to get strong performances from all parts of our roster, but we don't have enough depth to bring home a title. The wins that we had today highlighted what has been a record-breaking year for our team. Josh Gilliard continued his dominating season by winning the men's high jump handily. He set the bar at the meet record after he had the competition won but was not able to set a new standard for the championship. The other dominating performance that we had today came from Luke Griner in the men's 800-meter run. Luke set a new meet record in running an unchallenged 1:47.57 for the win. It was the 2^nd fastest time he has ever run for that event and came from a hard charging solo effort. He has repeatedly set himself up for success and today was another in a series of great runs for him. He set the meet record in the 800 last year and then re-set that record in the prelims yesterday. After two hard efforts yesterday, it was understandable that he felt somewhat flat today so his 1:47.57 is even more remarkable in perspective given the loading he had endured in the lead up to that race. He is currently sitting 20^th on the NCAA list and has a slim chance of making the NCAA meet in two weeks. If this was his last indoor 800, it was a fantastic run. Although we came up short of our ultimate goal, we will carry a lot of momentum into the outdoor season.