Track and Field with Strong Showings at Pair of Meets

Thursday, January 22

Philadelphia, Pa.

Army West Point

Penn Elite Invitational

Track and Field with Strong Showings at Pair of Meets

January 24, 2026 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Penn Elite Dr. Sander

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point track and field program split its squad this weekend, competing in the Penn Elite Invitational in Philadelphia and the Dr. Sander Collegiate Invitational in New York City hosted by Columbia.

The Penn Elite Invitational saw Army set four new program records and put together plenty of other good marks. In New York City, cadets in open, seeded and invitational events. In total, 120 West Point cadets competed this weekend, marking one of the most expansive weekends of competition in recent memory for the program.

Penn Elite
It was a successful Saturday in Philadelphia for both the men's and women's side. Jaxon Hammond kicked things off by setting a new program record in the 60m with a time of 6.74, .01 clear of the previous record. That time was good for a second-place finish in the event, with the time also registering in the top 100 in Division I this season.

Mikayla Cheney set her fifth program record – the most by any athlete – by running a 2:49.61 in the 1000m, good for fifth place. Charlotte Richman put together the best time 3000m time in program history, running a 9:14.28 to finish fifth. That mark is 12 seconds faster than the previous record. It ranks 32^nd among Division I times this season.

The final program record came in the women's 4x400m relay. The team – which consisted of Simone Tillman, Faith Kibbe, Sabrina Sardar and Skye Chambers – finished with a time of 3:42.99. It's a top 50 Division I time this season and was good for a third-place result in a loaded field.

In addition to the program records, a number of other athletes had strong showings. Kasen Jeitz set a meet record with a time of 1:48.88. The time is also good for 11th in the NCAA and 8^th in Division I.

Dr. Sander Collegiate Invitational
Jordan Hecht recorded an impressive first place finish in the shot put invite with a mark of 16.07m. She was one of three first place finishers for Army, as Jacob Farmer won the men's pole vault open and Carly Borgelt won the women's shot put open.

Army had a strong showing in the weight throws this meet. Robby Manse threw the third best mark in program history at 20.43m, which earned him a third place result in the invitational. Kiana Emerson had the 10^th best mark in Army history at 17.34m, which earned her second in the open event.

Carlos Posey finished second in the men's long jump with a mark of 7.34m. Erin Allert finished third in the triple jump invite at 12.51m.

In total, Army had four podium finishes in invitational events and nine in the open events.

How it Happened – Director of Track and Field Mike Smith
"I really don't like splitting our team up…. but in the interest of figuring out who can make up the competitive roster for the championship meets, we needed to provide opportunities this weekend for more people than the number of spots at any one single meet. So, this weekend, half the team competed at the Armory in New York City and the other half went down to The Ott Center at the University of Pennsylvania. By splitting the team, we were able to get opportunities for 120 athletes. I can't recall a travel weekend where we ever competed that many cadets. It was worth it. We had some season best marks at the Armory and we set four school records in Philadelphia. In recent years, we have been assaulting the program records… so much so that I thought at some point in the near future we would slow down. But the athletes on our teams had different plans. Our people trained hard over the break and were rewarded today with some all-time marks. The results are not just the best ever at West Point, but rank among the best in the Northeast Region. Jaxon Hammond got us started by running well in the prelims of the 60m and advancing to the 60m final. In the final he slashed .06 seconds off his own personal best of 6.80 with his second-place finish of 6.74. The previous Army West Point record was 6.75 set by Ben Sims back in 2016. Jaxon joined us from football earlier this month and has looked great in practice. He had a powerful start today and transitioned well from his start to hitting maximum velocity. This weekend was his opener so it is likely that he will get better from here. Great start to the season for him. Mikayla Cheney '27 owns the most Academy records (5) of any male or female athlete in the history of our program and today she added another one with her 2:49.66 in the 1000 meters. She ran the mile in 4:45 early in the day and then came back with the 1000. A great double for her. She has had her sights set on that 1000 meter record for a couple of years now so it was great to see her get it today. She always takes a few weeks to get race ready and while she was not sharp today, she is clearly carrying some good fitness that will translate into better results in the championship season. Charlotte Richman '26 had one of the best cross country seasons in the history of our program this fall. We opened up her indoor season today and she took down the 3000 meter program record by cutting off 12 seconds from the mark set by Georgia Jones '24 back in 2023. Charlotte looked smooth and easy for most of the race today. Afterword she told me that she felt good overall just "not race ready". I took that to mean that she thinks there is more that she can do in that event. The 4x400m relay is generally the last event at a track meet and is always one of the most exciting events at a meet. Today was no exception. We lined up our best quartet of women for the first time this year and the result was a new program record of 3:42.99. Although we only shaved .01 off the previous mark, it was a significant run for our women. We will undoubtedly be a better team a month from now than we are right now, so for us to open up the year with that kind of mark is very encouraging. The youth of the this foursome makes the mark all the more impressive. Simone Tillman '29 led us off in 57.7. She was laboring a bit early in the race and I wasn't sure if she had enough gas in the tank to keep up with the field, but she kept working and by the first exchange with Faith Kibbe '28, she had made up a lot of ground. We handed off in fifth (last place in our heat) but we planned for the possibility that we might be a little behind and put Faith at number two to bring us back if we were behind. She did exactly that. Faith drove hard the first lap and made-up significant ground on the field. The official split for her had her at 25.04 seconds. That is faster than any 200 that she has ever run. She was rolling. Her second lap was also strong and by the second exchange we had moved up to 4^th and Faith had split 54.9. Sabrina Sardar '29 got the baton and hammered the first lap as fast as she ever has. She kept us in fourth until the final exchange where we got caught right at the line having run 56.3. When Skye Chambers '27 got the baton, we were again in last behind BYU, Howard, Penn and the Navy team. But we were close and Skye was on a mission. She ran the first 200 fast but controlled and by the bell we were sneaking up on everyone, and Skye was threatening to move. She held her place as we entered the last turn and then she came off the curve and turned on the jets claiming one and then two victims in her rush to the line. We got third in the race and Skye split 54.4 to bring us home. It wasn't a championship race; it was the Penn Elite meet. But the way our women ran, you would have thought it was a championship meet. They ran with grit and determination. It was pretty exciting to watch. We had quite a few other great marks today and I like where we are right now as we look ahead to February. We are entering a time of the year where the focus shifts from training to competing. The marks start to reflect that shift and I saw that this weekend. We have two good teams. Our men and women are both deep and talented."

Up Next
The Black Knights will hit the road to University Park, Pa., for the Penn State National Invite next Friday and Saturday. Additional information about the meet will be available on goarmywestpoint.com.