CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Navy track and field teams followed up their two victories over Army last week with an impressive outing at the Virginia Grand Prix on Friday and Saturday at Lannigan Field in Charlottesville, Va. The meet did not have team scoring.
 
The Mids posted six times / marks that rank in the top 10 in school history and 32 that met IC4A / ECAC qualifying standards. Additionally, Navy placed first in 11 events.
 
"We did everything we needed to do this weekend to get ready for the rest of the season. Army was an emotional experience and I could tell that a lot of athletes were still on cloud nine from winning. Now we're back to the reality of focusing on what we need to do to prepare for the conference championship. I thought everyone did a good job of refocusing on the reps and the chance to compete even if they didn't set a personal best," said Associate Head Coach Chris Campbell. "Everyone who competed today got more experience under their belt and that's what we were trying to gain from this meet. Across the board, the throwers competed hard against a number of great athletes from Virginia, Liberty and William & Mary. Joshua (Boamah) did a great job in the hammer throw on the first day. He battled hard with a great thrower from Virginia and a post-graduate student from North Carolina. Today he took care of business to win the discus and rallied to win the shot put with another top-10 mark. It's really impressive for him to have a performance like this coming off of Army where he won both of those events as well.
 
"For next week, we're going to continue to structure events that will get us ready for the conference championship. The distance runners are competing in the Virginia Challenge, which is a very high-end meet. Most of the team will be at home next week and that will be the first opportunity for the multi-event athletes to compete in the decathlon and heptathlon. It really comes down to what do we need to do to win the conference and qualify people for the IC4A/ECAC meets, regionals and nationals."
 
Hannah Lowenstein narrowly missed tying her program record in the high jump. She tied the second-best height in team history at 1.76m (5' 9.25") to finish in second place. The senior has achieved a height of at least 1.76m four times in her career, including her school-record height of 1.77m (5' 9.75").
 
Sheldon Ulmer (first place) and Benjemen Schneider (second place) both recorded a height of 2.03m (6' 8") in the men's high jump. Ulmer earned first place for reaching the height in fewer jumps.
 
Joshua Boamah led the Mids in the throws with victories in the shot put (18.49m / 60' 8") and discus (52.64m / 172' 8"). His shot put distance ranks fifth in Navy history. Additionally, the San Diego, Calif., native finished in third place in the hammer throw with a mark of 61.72m (202' 6"). All three of his distances met IC4A qualifying standards.
 
Collin Greene also recorded three qualifying marks. His top placement was a third-place finish in the discus at 47.15m (154' 8"). He also placed fourth in the shot put and sixth in the hammer throw with distances of 16.49m (54' 1.25") and 55.67m (182' 7"), respectively.
 
Dane Vernor posted a qualifying mark of 58.03m (190' 4") to place fifth in the hammer throw.
 
Jordynn Hutchinson claimed a victory in the women's hammer throw with an ECAC qualifying distance of 52.20m (171' 3"). She also took third place in the discus thanks to a qualifying throw of 45.93m (150' 8").
 
Braden Presser finished second overall in the javelin with a qualifying mark of 64.99m (213' 2").
 
Kiera Sleiman posted a career-best distance of 37.97m (124' 7") to garner a third-place finish in the women's javelin.
 
Walker Rudisaile, who has won the pole vault in the last seven meets he has competed in dating back to the indoor season, continued his winning streak in the event with a qualifying mark of 4.90m (16' 0.75").
 
Alayna Schloeder and Gracie Emerick, placed sixth and eighth, respectively, in the women's pole vault with a height of 3.69m (12' 1.25").
 
Nathan Kent added his name to the record book in the 200m and 4x400m relay. He clocked in the third-fastest 200m time in program history at 20.84 to finish in second place. The sophomore later ran in the 4x400m relay with Pete deJonge, Jacques Guillaume and David Walker. The squad combined to win the race by posting the third-best time in team history (3:07.54).
 
Both of the men's 4x100m relay teams recorded qualifying times. Kent, Brahmir Vick, Simon Alexander and Jay Evans won the race with a time of 40.66. Additionally, the quartet of Marcel Jackson, David Walker, Nico Gonzalez-Reed and Tyler Yurich ended in third place with a time of 41.25.
 
Taylor Woodworth played a vital role in both the 4x100m and 4x400m relay events. Woodworth, Caroline Rey, Mayu Gayton and Jia Anderson claimed first place in the 4x100m relay with a qualifying time of 46.98. The 4x400m relay squad of Kylie Bedard, Annie Lemelin, Kayla McGuire and Woodworth posted a time of 3:52.28 to finish third overall.
 
Lemelin recorded the first top-10 time in the 400m hurdles since 2019. She placed second in the race with the eighth-fastest finish in school history (1:00.30). Additionally, her qualifying time of 24.49 helped her finish in second place in the 200m.
 
Guillaume crossed the finish line in 52.27 to win the 400m hurdles for the men's team.
 
Yurich (21.85) and Walker (21.89) also clocked in qualifying times in the 200m to place sixth and seventh, respectively.
 
Vick once again dominated the 110m hurdles, winning the race by 0.46 with a qualifying time of 13.64. His time would be the third-best finish in program history if ran in a legal wind. Vick has placed first in every 60m hurdle or 110m hurdle race he has competed in this season.   
 
Four mids recorded qualifying times in the men's 100m. Jonah Johnson led the group with a fifth-place effort at 10.68. Jackson (sixth place) and Yurich (seventh place) finished right behind Johnson with times of 10.71 and 10.82, respectively. Gonzalez-Reed posted the additional qualifying time of 10.89 to take ninth place.
 
Gayton (12.04) ended with a qualifying time in the women's 100m to finish in second place.
 
Ellie Abraham ran the ninth-fastest 1,500m race in Navy history to highlight the distance events. Her qualifying time of 4:26.61 earned her seventh place. Abraham also took eighth place in the 800m with a time of 2:12.70.
 
Kayla McGuire led the large 800m field for the Mids by placing sixth with a qualifying time of 2:11.78.
 
Matt Newell's qualifying time of 1:50.90 helped him finish in third place in the men's 800m.
 
Garrett Baublitz placed fourth in the 1,5000m by posting a qualifying time of 3:54.59.
 
Navy claimed the top-three placements in the 5,000m. Jackson Nguyen won the race with a time of 14:44.26. Logan Flament (15:07.77) and Owen Ahten (15:08.41) followed behind in second and third place, respectively.
 
The Mids will play host to the Navy Spring Invitational next Friday (noon) and Saturday (9:30 a.m.) at Ingram Field in Annapolis, Md. Navy will also send athletes to compete in the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville, Va., on Friday (1:45 p.m.) and Saturday (11 a.m.).