ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy track and field team completed the final tune up before the annual Army-Navy Indoor Star Series Meet presented by USAA with a solid performance in the 2019 Navy Invitational on Saturday at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis, Md. The Midshipmen combined for 27 ECAC / IC4A times and marks on the day.
 
"I was happy with the effort," Director of Navy Track and Field Jamie Cook said after the meet. "That is the only thing you can control – your attitude and your effort. We came out, competed hard, and did a good job. We were able to rest some people, but those who competed, I was very proud of. We still have a long way to go, but I am happy with what we did today. We had some people compete and show some toughness. Across the board, I think we are improving and that is where you want to be at this point in the year."
 
The men's team posted 22 IC4A qualifiers with 11 victories on the day. On the women's side, the Mids posted five ECAC times / marks. In addition, the women's team recorded three first place finishes.
 
Eric Hughey (Lee's Summit, Mo.) won the 400m dash with an IC4A qualifying time of 47.99, while John Finnegan (Spring, Texas) claimed the 800m run with a qualifying time of 1:53.30. In the distance events, Jake Brophy (New Hope, Pa.), Michael Karls (Festus, Mo.), and Julian Perez (Beaumont, Texas) each posted victories. Brophy won the 1,000m with an IC4A time of 2:28.34, while Karls won the 1-mile run with his qualifier of 4:09.65. Perez clocked a time of 8:33.46 to win the 3,000m run.
 
The 60m hurdles saw Kordell Williams (Upper Marlboro, Md.) and Clayton Thompson (Corpus Christi, Texas) finish 1-2 in the preliminaries with IC4A times of 8.09 and 8.12. The duo each notched IC4A times in the finals, finishing first and second as Williams clocked an 8.07 and Thompson notched an 8.15.
 
In the relays, Cole Bailey (Yukon, Okla.), Thompson, Christian Moreno (Oronogo, Mo.), and Nicholas Williams (Bristol, R.I.) combined for an IC4A qualifying time of 3:18.89 to win the event. Luke Murphy (Tulsa, Okla.), Miguel Mathias (Nekoosa, Wisc.), John Bowers (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.), and Jonathan Gill (Miami Shores, Fla.) won the distance medley relay with an IC4A time of 10:15.42.
 
Stefano Pineda (Hockessin, Del.) won the pole vault with an IC4A height of 4.85m (15-11.00), while Sean Brennan (Westfield, N.J.) won a pair of throwing events with IC4A marks. Brennan claimed the shot put with a distance of 17.00m (55-09.25). In the weight throw, Brennan won the event with a throw of 18.41m (60-05.00). He was joined by Mike Milcarek (Woodinville, Wash.) and Tommy Reeder (Kiln, Miss.) who finished second and third with IC4A marks of 18.18m (59-07.75) and 17.15m (56-03.25), respectively.
 
Demetrius Lanier (Palm Coast, Fla.) posted an IC4A time of 6.94 in the preliminaries of the 60m dash to advance to the finals. In the finals, Lanier and Lexo notched IC4A qualifiers of 6.88 and 6.97, respectively, in the finals. Austin Pierce (Dahlonega, Ga.) and Justin Titgen (Waxhaw, N.C.) recorded IC4A times of 21.92 and 22.21 in the 200m dash, while Clayton Turner (Bartlett, Tenn.) posted a qualifier of 1:53.77 in the 800m run. Kevin Murray (Wilmington, Del.) finished 0.34 second behind Karls in the mile to finish second with an IC4A time of 4:09.99.
 
Regine Tugade (Dededo, Guam) posted an ECAC time of 7.70 in the 60m dash, while Amanda Agana (Fayetteville, Ark.) notched an ECAC qualifying time of 1:14.84 in the 500m dash. Maddi Falvey (Cypress, Texas) registered a height of 3.80m (12-05.50) in the pole vault to post an ECAC qualifying mark. In the throws, Sam Orie (Greensburg, Pa.) recorded a pair of ECAC qualifiers with distances of 13.59m (44-07.00) in the shot put and 17.12m (56-02.00) in the weight throw.
 
Lauren Heaton (Russia, Ohio) won the 400m dash with a time of 57.62, while Caitlin Schmitt (Evergreen, Colo.) claimed the 5,000m run with a time of 18:09.13. Orie's distance in the shot put was good enough for the sophomore to win the event.
 
Navy returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 2, as the Midshipmen travel to West Point for the annual Army-Navy Indoor Star Series Meet, presented by USAA.