Army West Point Athletics
Track and Field Impresses In Day One of Florida Relays
March 30, 2024 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Army West Point track and field team competed in day one of the Florida Relays yesterday. The Florida Relays are known as one of the biggest meets of the outdoor season.
ARMY RESULTS
Emma Fink made her debut and looked really impressive, finishing runner up in the hammer throw. Joanna Halfhill came in the second in the women's 1500m with a time of 4:27.46.
Mitchell Burr took the crown in the men's 1500m with a time of 3:47.36. Joshua Gilliard won the high jump at 2.11m.
Day two results can be found here.
COACHES CORNER
The Florida Relays is one of the best meets in the NCAA on this last weekend in March. We knew we would benefit from the high level of competition at this meet and the combination of good weather and good competition set us up for success today. There were a number of outstanding performances from the track and in the field. In the hammer throw, Emily Fink made her long awaited debut. She has demonstrated superior fitness all fall and winter so there has been an expectation that she would put up some big marks in the hammer this spring. Her runner-up finish was a nice confidence boost for her and I think as she gets more repetition, we will see her throw at or beyond our current school record. Brian Matthews had a nice improvement in the 400 intermediate hurdles and although he wasn't satisfied with the mark (52.18), in my opinion, it was a strong race and signals that he is ready for a big drop in time in the coming weeks and months of the outdoor season. Brian also led off our 4x400 meter relay (Matthews, Jeitz, Carter, Griner). The time that we ran today in that relay (3:10.14) is the fastest time we have run since 2019 and is the 8th best mark in Academy history. Our women's 4x400 meter relay also ran a very competitive race today. The quartet of Elegon, Westwood Marsh, Chambers, Taylor ran 3:43.57 which is the 2nd fastest time ever run at Army. I think we can run much faster as we put ourselves out there to compete. In the field, there were two other outstanding performances today. Josh Gilliard won the college high jump with a strong 2.11 meter clearance (6' 11") Josh picked up today where he left off indoors. We expect that he will just continue to clear big bars as he gets into more and more competitive meets. Isabel Crandall also had a strong effort today in the pole vault. She has flirted with jumping high for a few years now and is just now starting to figure everything out. Her jump today of 3.80 meters stands as the number 3 all-time mark at Army and it is pretty clear that there is more potential for her to jump higher as she goes forward into the championship season. Two Academy records fell today and the women that broke those records are the usual suspects. Brooke Stratman is the best javelin thrower in Army West Point history and today, she broke her own record by a significant margin. Her winning throw of 52.59 meters (172' 6") is not only the top mark in West Point history, but also the 11th best mark in the NCAA. I am not surprised by Brooke's success. Since she arrived here 4 years ago, she has been a threat to throw the javelin far and it is really only in the last two years, that we have seen her start to consistently throw big in competition. The scary thing is that she can, and probably will, throw farther as the season goes on. Mikayla Cheney entered the day with one of the best resumes (800/1500/Mile/1000) of any woman to ever wear the Army singlet. Last weekend in Orlando, she ran the first 1500-meter race of her career and today, in her second ever 1500, she set a new Academy record at 4:22.80. She is having a remarkable first year as a collegiate and I would expect that she will continue to run faster as the season progresses. We will do some more high level racing tomorrow and have some good performances in the field as well.
ARMY RESULTS
Emma Fink made her debut and looked really impressive, finishing runner up in the hammer throw. Joanna Halfhill came in the second in the women's 1500m with a time of 4:27.46.
Mitchell Burr took the crown in the men's 1500m with a time of 3:47.36. Joshua Gilliard won the high jump at 2.11m.
Day two results can be found here.
COACHES CORNER
The Florida Relays is one of the best meets in the NCAA on this last weekend in March. We knew we would benefit from the high level of competition at this meet and the combination of good weather and good competition set us up for success today. There were a number of outstanding performances from the track and in the field. In the hammer throw, Emily Fink made her long awaited debut. She has demonstrated superior fitness all fall and winter so there has been an expectation that she would put up some big marks in the hammer this spring. Her runner-up finish was a nice confidence boost for her and I think as she gets more repetition, we will see her throw at or beyond our current school record. Brian Matthews had a nice improvement in the 400 intermediate hurdles and although he wasn't satisfied with the mark (52.18), in my opinion, it was a strong race and signals that he is ready for a big drop in time in the coming weeks and months of the outdoor season. Brian also led off our 4x400 meter relay (Matthews, Jeitz, Carter, Griner). The time that we ran today in that relay (3:10.14) is the fastest time we have run since 2019 and is the 8th best mark in Academy history. Our women's 4x400 meter relay also ran a very competitive race today. The quartet of Elegon, Westwood Marsh, Chambers, Taylor ran 3:43.57 which is the 2nd fastest time ever run at Army. I think we can run much faster as we put ourselves out there to compete. In the field, there were two other outstanding performances today. Josh Gilliard won the college high jump with a strong 2.11 meter clearance (6' 11") Josh picked up today where he left off indoors. We expect that he will just continue to clear big bars as he gets into more and more competitive meets. Isabel Crandall also had a strong effort today in the pole vault. She has flirted with jumping high for a few years now and is just now starting to figure everything out. Her jump today of 3.80 meters stands as the number 3 all-time mark at Army and it is pretty clear that there is more potential for her to jump higher as she goes forward into the championship season. Two Academy records fell today and the women that broke those records are the usual suspects. Brooke Stratman is the best javelin thrower in Army West Point history and today, she broke her own record by a significant margin. Her winning throw of 52.59 meters (172' 6") is not only the top mark in West Point history, but also the 11th best mark in the NCAA. I am not surprised by Brooke's success. Since she arrived here 4 years ago, she has been a threat to throw the javelin far and it is really only in the last two years, that we have seen her start to consistently throw big in competition. The scary thing is that she can, and probably will, throw farther as the season goes on. Mikayla Cheney entered the day with one of the best resumes (800/1500/Mile/1000) of any woman to ever wear the Army singlet. Last weekend in Orlando, she ran the first 1500-meter race of her career and today, in her second ever 1500, she set a new Academy record at 4:22.80. She is having a remarkable first year as a collegiate and I would expect that she will continue to run faster as the season progresses. We will do some more high level racing tomorrow and have some good performances in the field as well.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
PV
/ Women's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
/ Men's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
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