PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – A pair of school records fell and several program top-10 marks were recorded as the Navy track & field teams turned in a strong performance Saturday at the Penn Elite.
 
The meet was not team scored and featured athletes from Army, BYU, Connecticut, Georgetown, Howard, Penn, Penn State, Princeton, Villanova and Wisconsin.
 
Track Events
Sophia Richter highlighted the day by setting a new school record in the 400 meters, winning the event in 54.26. The time ranks 33rd nationally. Richter eclipsed the previous record of 54.28, set by Taylor Woodworth last season.
 
"Sophia ran a really clean race and I thought it was a good starting point for the meet and for her," Navy Director of Track & Field / Cross Country Jamie Cook said. "She's been training well and I'm excited for her."
 
The men's 4x400-meter relay team of Nathan Kent, David Walker, Cooper Wakley and Simon Alexander also set a school record, placing third in 3:10.43. The quartet surpassed the previous mark of 3:10.96, which had stood for three years.
 
"I knew they were capable of running that fast," said Cook. "It's great for them to get a school record, but I know there's more there."
 
On the women's side, Jia Anderson produced a pair of top-10 program performances en route to a runner-up finish in the 60-meter hurdles. Anderson clocked an 8.50 in the preliminaries to tie the eighth-fastest time in school history, then ran the fourth-best time in program history at 8.45 in the finals. Princeton's Laila Payne edged Anderson for the win with an 8.44 in a photo finish.
 
Jason Keiser posted a season-best time of 7.99 in the 60-meter hurdles preliminaries before being disqualified by a false start in the finals.
 
Navy also delivered solid results in the distance events. Mia-Claire Kezal recorded the sixth fastest 800-meter time in school history while placing 11th. Sophie Compton finished fifth in the mile, running the third-fastest time in program history at 4:41.98.
 
Luke Bowlsby and Owen Ahten turned in strong performances in the 3,000 meters. Bowlsby placed third in 8:10.51, while Ahten finished fourth with a career-best time of 8:11.29.
 
The track portion of the meet concluded with the women's 4x400-meter relay team of Samaria Williams, Savannah Swanda, ChiChi Obasi and Richter placing fifth in 3:45.29, the sixth-fastest time in school history.
 
Field Events
Zoie Tesi won the high jump for the third time this season, clearing a program third-best height of 1.76 meters (5-9.25). Tesi cleared the bar on her second attempt to edge Penn State's Hannah Riolo, who also jumped 1.76 meters, but took three attempts.
 
William Pierce paced the men's long jump with a winning leap of 7.40 meters (24-3.50) on his final attempt, a career best that tied for the seventh-best mark in Navy history. Colby Fahrney placed fourth with a jump of 6.90 meters.
 
Cooper Wakley finished third in the pole vault, posting a season-best height of 5.04 meters (16-6.50). On the women's side, Aurora Cieslukowski led Navy with a second-place clearance of 3.96 meters (12-11.75). Sophia Hill and Olivia Baird tied for fourth after both cleared 3.81 meters (12-6).
 
Nick Simmons led the Midshipmen in the triple jump with a fourth-place mark of 14.23 meters (46-8.25), followed closely by Gary Choice III, who finished fifth at 14.18 meters (46-6.25).
 
"It was a great meet. The reason you compete against teams like Penn, Princeton and UConn is to face good talent and we got the opportunity to race in a new facility," said Cook.
 
Navy returns to Philadelphia on Friday to compete at the Penn Invitational.