ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy men's track and field team won 13 of 17 events to post a 109-71 victory over Army West Point in the annual Army-Navy Indoor Star Meet, which is part of the overall Star Series presented by USAA. The Midshipmen recorded maximum points in eight events to cruise to the victory in America's Meet.
"This team competes," Director of Navy track and field
Jamie Cook said after the meet. "What we always talk about is competition and leadership. That is why they choose to come here and that is why I chose to coach here and help in their development. It is fun to see when things go the way you plan for them to go. It is rewarding. It is rewarding for them. The excitement they are feeling for being genuinely excited for their teammates. It is for me, it is awesome."
The Meet started with
Tommy Reeder (Kiln, Miss.) posting a personal best in the weight throw of 19.28m (63-03.25) to win the event.
Caden Dailey (Centreville, Va.) followed with a victory in the long jump, notching a distance of 7.46m (24-05.75) to put Navy in front 12-10.
Jake Brophy (New Hope, Pa.) extended the Midshipmen's advantage with a victory in the 1-mile run, clocking a time of 4:06.29.
Over the next four races – 60m hurdles, 400m dash, 500m dash, and 60m dash – Navy claimed max points coming in first and second in the events.
Clayton Thompson (Corpus Christi, Texas) broke his own school record in the 60m hurdles (7.92) to take first place ahead of teammate
Cameron Hurd (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) who took second with a time of 8.39.
Eric Hughey (Lee's Summit, Mo.) and
Simon Petsch (Billings, Mont.) finished 1-2 in the 400m dash with times of 48.05 and 48.96, respectively.
John Finnegan (Spring, Texas) and
James Love (Star, Idaho) also finished back-to-back in the 500m dash with times of 1:03.68 and 1:04.72 to win the event and extend the advantage to 36-18. In the 60m dash,
Evan Lexo (Groton, Mass.) just barely edged Dailey, 6.87 to 6.93, to finish first ahead of his teammate and once again give Navy maximum points.
Ashwin Briggs (Pickerington, Ohio) continued the trend of winning for Navy, claiming the 800m run with a time of 1:51.52.
Chase Rivera (Jacksonville, Fla.) and
Sean Casey (Vienna, Va.) finished first and second in the 1,000m run to push the advantage once more.
The score was 70-39 through 10 events. After coming in second and third in the 200m dash, Navy won the triple jump as
Cedric Williams (Powder Springs, Ga.) won the event with a distance of 14.86m (48-09.00).
The Midshipmen came closer to the goal of 91 points by sweeping the 3,000m run.
Kevin Murray (Wilmington, Del.), Brophy, and
Julian Perez (Beaumont, Texas) finished 1-2-3 in the event to give Navy 90 points with four events to go.
Navy clinched the meet with a victory in the 4x400m relay. The team of Hughey, Petsch, Love, and Finnegan combined for a time of 3:14.15 to win the race and secure the star for the Midshipmen.
The Midshipmen added to their point total with a first and second place finish in the pole vault.
Jack Haller (Cumming, Ga.) cleared 5.00m with a season-best height of 5.05m (16-06.75), while teammate
Charles Crispi (Staten Island, N.Y.) was second with a jump of 4.85m (15-11.00).
Army claimed the high jump and 4x800m relay, but Navy prevailed by a final score of 109-71.
The Midshipmen continue the season on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 14-15, as the Mids take part in the Liberty's Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational in Lynchburg, Va.
