Two School Records Fall at West Point Twilight

Thursday, May 9

Army West Point

West Point Twilight

Two School Records Fall at West Point Twilight

May 09, 2024 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point track and field teams completed the West Point Twilight as the final tune up before postseason competition on Thursday afternoon.

Two school record fell tonight, Brooke Stratman broke her own javelin record with a toss of 53.18m and then Luke Griner won the 800m with a time 1:47.36. The 800m record was set in 1983 but comes down after a blistering race by Griner.

This meet serves as a great launching point for the Black Knights ahead of the ECAC/IC4A meet this weekend which is the precursor to the NCAA prelims the following week.

COACHES CORNER

I started this meet about 7 or 8 years ago thinking that we could really take advantage of the warm May evenings that are common down at Shea Stadium. There were no winds out there today and the temperatures were ideal for a track meet. The conference meet was a team focused competition but the twilight is for personal best marks. We had quite a few personal bests out there today but what really stood out were the two school records. Brooke Stratman broke her own record in the javelin set back in March. Her winning throw of 53.18 meters set a new meet record and facility record. She had already secured a spot in the NCAA prelim but today's new mark is huge confidence boost for her and further solidifies her spot in the Olympic trials later this summer. It was a great throw for her. The other big mark from today came from Luke Griner. His winning time tonight of 1:47.36 took down the record of 1:47.64 set by Cardell Williams in 1983. In the 41 years since that mark was set only two Army men have run under 1:48. Luke Griner did it earlier this spring and Mitchell Burr did it last year at this meet. Luke has run well all year and we knew a time drop was coming sometime soon. You don't run fast without trying to run fast and Luke went for it tonight. With near perfect conditions there was little chance that tonight's race would be slow. He got through the first 400 meters following close behind his teammate Ammon Smith who took the race out in a blistering 51.20 and then Luke kept his foot on the gas through the 600 meter mark. His last 100 was steady and he came home to the line with enough juice to win convincingly. In doing so he set a new meet record and a new facility record. Those two new all time marks tonight moved our yearly total for both indoor and outdoor school records (men and women combined) to 23. That is the most for a year since the inception of our track and field programs….and we still have more meets on the schedule. We have the ECAC/IC4A meet this weekend and then the NCAA postseason and the 2024 Olympic Trials. There is still more time for us to put up some all time marks.