AUSTIN, Texas – The Navy track and field season came to an end as the final competitors of the year closed out competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship in Austin, Texas. The Midshipmen had two entries in the national meet with both the javelin and the 4x400m relay placing in the top 20 overall.
 
"It was a nice meet," Director of Navy Track and Field Jamie Cook said. "We ran hard, but we just came up a little short. Also, Hayden did really well competing in his first NCAA Championship."
 
"I am proud of those guys. This is definitely something that we can build on. These guys know what they have to do to compete at this level. The team wants to do better and we know what it takes now. I am extremely proud of their hard work and their commitment to the team. It was a great year."
 
The 4x400m relay team of Eric Hughey (Lee's Summit, Mo.), Simon Petsch (Billings, Mont.), Cameron Hurd (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), and John Finnegan (Spring, Texas) clocked a collective time of 3:09.97 to finish in 19th. The time was the 10th best time in program history and the fifth best performance of the year for the quartet. The 4x400m relay team now holds five of the top 10 times in school history, including the top two performances.
 
In the javelin, Hayden Fox (Pittsburgh, Pa.) made his first NCAA Championship appearance. The freshman registered a distance of 64.60m (211-11) to finish in 20th overall. The distance was the fifth best of the year for the rookie. Fox opened the competition with a throw of 58.68m (192-06) to record a distance. After a foul, the Pittsburgh native notched his fifth-best distance of the year to finish the year in the top 20.

For their efforts finishing in the top 24, Finnegan, Fox, Hughey, Hurd, and Petsch each earned honorable mention All-America honors. 
 
The Navy men's track and field team finishes the year as the Patriot League Outdoor Champions. The Midshipmen posted a Patriot League record 289 points to win the championship, winning 15 of 22 events at the meet. Navy claimed 12 individual titles and three relays, while also claiming silver in five additional events.
 
In addition, the team earned a Star by beating Army West Point in the annual outdoor dual meet as part of the Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA.
 
The men's track and field team won to back-to-back IC4A Championships (2018, '19), claiming the title in consecutive years for the first time since winning it three-straight times from 1944-46. At the Penn Relays, Navy won the shuttle hurdles relay, marking first win in 73 years at the meet.
 
Navy had 13 student-athletes represent the Academy at the 2019 NCAA East Preliminaries in 11 individual events and one relay. He had NCAA Qualifiers in the 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, 800m run, 3,000m steeplechase, 4x400m relay, shot put, discus, hammer, javelin, pole vault, and triple jump.