Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Dr. Sander Invitational
Track and Field Receives Top Marks at Dr. Sander Scorcher
January 26, 2025 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
NEW YORK CITY, N.Y — Army West Point Track & Field hit the road for the second straight meet on Friday and Saturday as they headed to the Dr. Sander Scorcher, hosted by Columbia University.
On the first day of action, the middle-distance runners on both the men's and women's sides shined.
Kasen Jeitz recorded a 1:50.08 in the 800m dash, being only .01 second off of his indoor personal best, in his first run of the season. His time was good for a third-place finish at the meet and currently sits as the best time in the Patriot League.
Many runners on the women's side recorded strong performances in the 800m dash. Skye Chambers saw the fastest finish for Army in the event, earning a mark of 2:11.10, finishing sixteenth in the event overall. The mark served as a lifetime best for Chambers and now sits as the fourth-best time in Army West Point's program history in the indoor 800m dash.
Mikayla Cheney (2:11.56) finished right behind Chambers in her first 800m dash of the season. In the open division of the 800m dash, Kara Sinnott (2:14.17), Lauren Gallagher (2:14.18) and Mia Royall (2:15.07) finished first, second and third, all three recording personal bests in the event.
One last standout finish came in the women's Distance Medley Relay, with the team earning a fourth-place finish. Joanna Halfhill, Lauren Gallagher, Kara Sinnott and Melissa Jachim finished the race with a time of 11:51.37, coming in as the fourth fastest time on the Army All-Time Performance List.
On Saturday, the Black Knights saw several strong marks, with the most outstanding accomplishments coming from Emily Fink.
Emily Fink competed in the women's shot put, recording the best throw of the meet, throwing 16.82 meters. The throw allowed Fink to win the event in a stacked competition field. The throw also serves not only as a new program record but also as the top mark out of all Patriot League athletes and ranked No. 19 at the NCAA Division I level.
Up next, the Black Knights will return to action on Saturday, February 1, taking on longtime rival Navy in the Annual Star Meet. The two programs will compete in Gillis Field House on Saturday, with the meet also streaming live on ESPN+.
Hear from Coach Smith:
We have not taken our team to the Armory in NYC in a decade so it was a nice change to come down here this weekend to compete in such a historic venue. The Dr. Sander Scorcher is a two-day meet so we were able to spread out our competitive efforts over the two days and give almost our entire team an opportunity to compete. Columbia, Princeton, Wisconsin, BYU, and Maryland provided some of the best competition in the meet today along with a scattered number of professional athletes. The majority of our team competed on Friday with a smaller group going on Saturday. I usually highlight our wins and all-time top 10 list marks after each meet and on Friday we didn't win any events but we had some nice season openers and some all-time top 10 performances. The middle-distance crew stood out to me and in particular, the performance of Kasen Jeitz '26 was strong. Kasen proved his fitness last weekend in opening up at Penn State but today we saw more evidence of just how far he has come. His time today of 1:50.08 was only .01 off of his indoor personal best and he did it in his first 800 of the season. He was a little bit rusty out there today in a large field of runners but in the end, his skills proved to be enough to get him 3rd overall in the final standings. He is in a very good spot as we look ahead to the championship season. Our women's 800 crew was also impressive today. I had targeted this weekend to get most of our middle-distance women into a competitive 800 and the heats today did not disappoint. Skye Chambers '27 was our fastest performer on the day in the 800 and her mark of 2:11.10 was a lifetime best for her and a new number 4 on the Army all-time performance list. She did not win the overall title as a few other heats ran faster than she did but going back to December, she has not lost a race this season. She is as fit as she has ever been and is proving to be one of our most consistent performers. She ran just slightly faster than Mikayla Cheney '27 (2:11.56) who was also running her first 800 of the season. In the earlier sections of the 800m on Friday morning, we had three of our younger women all in the same heat and they finished first, second and third in that race all with lifetime bests in the indoor 800. It was a strong day for us in that event. In the women's Distance Medley Relay, the team of Joanna Halfhill '25, Lauren Gallagher '28, Kara Sinnott '27, and Melissa Jachim '25, earned a fourth-place finish in the invitational race, and their time of 11:51.37 came in as the fourth fastest time on the Army all-time performance list. The times and personal bests were all nice results from today but what I thought was most impressive was how the women competed. The majority of our women ran with a great deal of confidence on Friday and it was apparent in almost all of the races. We didn't finish first in the overall standings but we won several heats and our competitive instincts were very good. I expect that from our veteran performers but we saw a lot of successful plebes and yearlings out there today. It's a good sign. Saturday we will get started early in the morning with some of the unseeded mile races and then some of our elite performers will get into action in the afternoon during the invitational and professional sections of the meet. We had several outstanding marks on Saturday as well, but the best result and the one worth talking about, was the shot put win for Emily Fink. Emily had a full fall preparation training block for the first time since her plebe year and carried great fitness into the start of the indoor season. She came into this weekend with some nice marks from the December meet and has always been a threat to throw far in the shot put but what she did today was extraordinary. There were three sections of the shot put for women at the meet this weekend. There was an open section in the morning with 26 competitors, an invitational section in the afternoon with 13 competitors, and a pro-elite section with five competitors. Emily competed in the invitational section and won it over a strong field. She threw farther than the five women in the pro-elite section and farther than all of the open competitors. She had an up-and-down series and went into her 5th attempt with a nice mark of 15.43 meters (50' 7"). If she is consistent at 50' in the shot this indoor season, she will be competitive in every meet we attend. So, if it ended right there after four attempts it would have been an okay day for Emily. But it didn't end there. On her 5th attempt, she was a little bit more patient on her release, and instead of rushing it, she nailed it and it sailed 16.82 meters (55' 2.25"). That throw currently sits at No. 19 in the NCAA. It is a new school record, an all-time Patriot League best mark, and it is the farthest throw ever for a service academy woman eclipsing her own personal best of 16.43m meters set two years ago. She stands alone atop the Patriot League with over four feet separating her from the next best conference shot put throw. Finally, in besting the five competitors in the Pro-Elite section she defeated the NCAA discus champion from last spring who is now a professional, the top thrower from BYU and the three Big 10 competitors from the University of Wisconsin… (which just happens to be Emily's home state). Emily's performance set the throws area abuzz on Saturday and fired up our already lively group of men and women throwers. It was a great end to the weekend and a great start to the week ahead with the Star Meet on the schedule next Saturday.
Players Mentioned
