SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Navy track and field team kicked off the outdoor season by breaking the school record in the men's 4x100m relay at the Ross and Sharon Irwin Invite last weekend at Point Loma in San Diego, Calif. The meet was not team scored.
The men's 4x100m team of Marcel Jackson, Nathan Kent, Jonah Johnson and Tyler Yurich set the program record with a time of 39.77, breaking the previous record by .19 seconds that was set in 2018.
Additionally, Jackson, Kent, Johnson and Yurich all competed in the 100m sprint where they swept the top-four spots. Yurich won the event running a career-best 10.49. Finishing behind Yurich was Jackson, who ran a personal-best time of 10.56, followed by Kent (10.58) and Johnson (10.60).
Meanwhile, four Navy runners finished among the top 10 in the 200m, including Kent, who won the event with a 21.09. Jay Evans (21.58) took third, followed by Simon Alexander (21.64) in fifth and Jackson (21.73) placed sixth.
Junior Sophie Compton kicked off her outdoor season with the ninth-fastest 1,500m time (4:25.89) in Navy history to win the event. Additionally, Compton took second in the 800m with a time of 2:13.60.
In the women's 100m sprint, Savannah Swanda led the Midshipmen as she clocked a 12.05 to place second. Elena Bovell also placed in the top 10 with a career-best time of 12.30.
Swanda went on to take second in the 200m when she ran a career-best time of 24.90.
The Mids claimed two of the top-three spots in the women's 400m, with Taylor Woodworth winning the event with a time of 54.96. Senior team captain Kylie Bedard placed third with a 56.79.
Woodworth also posted a top-five finish in the 800m with a time of 2:15.02 to take fifth.
Jacques Guillaume and Pete DeJonge took first and second-place respectively in the 400m dash. Guillaume won the event with a 47.40, while deJonge followed with a 48.32.
A pair of Mids posted top-five finishes in the 100m hurdles. Senior Annie Lemelin took second place with a career-best time of 14.14, while freshman Gabrielle Bernhard finished fifth with a time of 15.02.
Lemelin went on to win the 400m hurdles (1:02.17), while sophomore David Walker claimed victory in the men's 400m hurdles with a time of 52.84. He was .24 seconds shy of tying his personal best.
Navy swept the 4x100m relay as the women's team of Swanda, Lemelin, Woodworth and Jia Anderson posted a winning time of 46.33.
Highlighting the field events, Zoie Tesi had a big day as she took first in the high jump (1.68m / 5' 6") and second in the triple jump with a personal best mark of 11.67m (38' 3.5").
Senior Samantha Bollinger won the women's triple jump with a distance of 11.75m (38' 6.75").
Jordynn Hutchinson had an impressive showing in the women's throwing events where she won the shot put (13.84m / 45' 5"), discus (42.84m / 140' 7") and hammer throw (51.86m / 170' 2"). It was the fourth time in her career she has won three events in the same meet.
Sheldon Ulmer won the men's high jump with a height of 2.01m (6' 7").
The Mids were well represented in the men's pole vault, claiming three of the top-five spots. Gunnar Kimball (4.65m / 15' 3") took third, Cooper Wakley (4.50m / 14' 9") finished fourth and Gavin Anderson (4.35m / 14' 3.25") placed fifth.
Navy dominated the men's long jump taking first, second, third and fourth. William Pierce took top honors in the long jump for the second time in his career with a jump of 6.85m (22' 5.75"). Wyatt Shaw turned in the second-longest jump of 6.82m (22' 4.5"), followed by Colby Fahrney in third with a leap of 6.61m (21' 8.25") and Nigel Vidale in fourth with a mark of 6.60m (21' 8").
Renny Murphy opened the season by winning the javelin with a throw of 47.45m (155' 8"). Her mark was eight meters further than second-place Kyra Miedecke (131' 0") from Cerritos.
Sophomore George Kalkanis won the men's javelin with a mark of 57.10m (187' 4").
Adam Szatanek had a spectacular day with top-five finishes in three events. The sophomore finished third in the discus with a career-best throw of 46.89m (153' 10"), threw a personal best in the hammer throw (47.02m / 154' 3") to take fourth and placed third in the shot put with a toss of 14.36m (47' 1.5").
The Mids will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Charlottesville, Va. to compete in the Virginia Opener. The meet is set to begin at 11 a.m.
