LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Navy track and field team posted 39 IC4A / ECAC qualifying times / marks over the weekend at the eighth annual Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex on the campus of Liberty University. In addition, the Midshipmen's performance was highlighted by eight top 10 performances.
"I think it was good meet," Director of Navy Track and Field
Jamie Cook said. "We came down here and had a lot of people compete against a lot of teams including a decent amount from the ACC. Meet host Liberty is also a good team. We were competitive and we accomplished a lot. The team was excited to get on the road for another competitive opportunity away from home.
"Coming off of Army last week, we thought there might be a little bit of a letdown, but I didn't see too much of that. We had some PRs across the board. We ran some different events, but we did a really good job."
The men's team put together 26 IC4A qualifiers, while the women notched 13 ECAC marks.
Walker Rudisaile (Marion, Texas) tied the school record in the pole vault, matching his previous best performance of 5.26m (17-03.00), which he set earlier in the year. Charles Crispi (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Charles Dever (Thornton, Pa.) also posted IC4A performances of 5.01m (16-05.25) and 4.86m (15-11.25), respectively. On the women's side,
Stephanie Jacobs (Belleville, Ill.) paced the pole vaulters with an ECAC jump of 3.85m (12-07.50), while teammates
Briana Green (King George, Va.) and
Charlene Morke (Isanti, Minn.) followed with qualifying performances of 3.70m (12-01.50).
In the weight throw, Joshua Boamah (San Diego, Calif.) put forth the third best performance in Navy history with a distance of 20.20m (66-03.25). He was joined by teammates Sam Kwatkosky (Ocala, Fla.), Collin Greene (Elkridge, Md.), and Jonathan Harding (Lafayette, La.) who also registered IC4A qualifying marks. Boamah also posted an IC4A mark. In the shot put, 16.06m (52-08.25).
Katie Halbert (Keller, Texas) posted the fourth fastest time in the 60m hurdles during finals (8.68) after notching the second-best time in program history (8.62) in the prelims. The men's side saw Brahmir Vick (Middletown, Del.) and Baynes Autrey (Mountain Brook, Ala.) added IC4A qualifying performances in the 60m hurdles.
Jessica Nangle (South Hampton, Pa.) posted the fifth-fastest time in program history (16:56.65) in the 5,000m, while
Ellie Abraham (Brookings, S.D.) notched the seventh-best time in Navy history (4:51.47) in the mile.
The foursome of
Elizabeth Sullivan (Portsmouth, R.I.),
Annie Taylor (Nashville, Tenn.),
Winter Boese (Clark, Colo.), and
Alanna Julius (Minnetonka, Minn.) clocked a time of 12:00.58, which was the eighth fastest in school history.
In the long jump, Nahshon Houston (Kansas City, Kan.) notched the 10th-best performance in program history with a distance of 7.35m (24-01.50).
The Mids also posted qualifying performances in the 60m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,000m, mile, 3,000m, 5,000m, 4x400m relay, and distance medley relay.
In addition, Navy won the men's and women's 4x60m shuttle hurdle relay. The women's team of Halbert,
Alexa Arthun (Manhattan, Mont.),
Lindsay Lewis (Lanham, Md.), and
Breanna Mealer (Severn, Md.) clocked a time of 34.68 to win the event, while the men's team of Vick, Autrey, Jacob Jancek (New Era, Mich.), and Max Lapuh (Cleveland, Ohio) posted a winning time of 32.41.
"Next Friday, we have a meet and we will look to sharpen some things up and evaluate where we are and try to continually improve," Cook said. "It is hard in our sport to do too much without actual competition so we take every meet seriously. Next Friday is an opportunity for our team to improve their marks. Whether they are on a level to get a PR or top 10 in the conference or top 10 all time or a school record or make nationals, they are always trying to improve."
The Midshipmen continue the indoor campaign at home with the Navy Select on Friday, Feb. 18 at Wesley A. Brown Field House. Live results will be available throughout the meet.
