PRINCETON, N.J. – The Navy track and field team captured three event titles and set multiple personal bests over the weekend at the Sam Howell Invitational in Princeton, N.J., at the Weaver Track Facility on Saturday afternoon.
 
"It was a really nice day," Navy director of track and field Jamie Cook said. "The facility has made improvements in the last few years since we've last been there. It was a really good meet and we accomplished a lot of things we wanted to do the week before Army. We did a good job of resting people who needed rest and keeping people sharp with races."
 
Field Events
The Midshipmen won the men's long jump event for the third week in a row thanks to Wyatt Shaw's season-best jump of 7.19 meters (23-07.25). Zoie Tesi jumped 5.64 meters (18-6) in the women's long jump to place sixth.
 
Sheldon Ulmer won the high jump event for the first time this season, clearing 2.05 meters (6-08.75) on his first attempt. He beat out second-place Mark Hellwig from Penn, who also cleared 2.05 meters on his first try, but Ulmer earned the advantage by clearing 2.00 meters (6-06.75) in fewer attempts.
 
Tesi completed the high jump sweep for Navy when she won the women's portion at 1.72 meters, as Tesi bested Delaware State's Valerie Ashamu, who also cleared 1.72 meters but needed three attempts to Tesi's one.
 
"Coach [Chris] Johnson has done a good job keeping Sheldon and Zoie steady and prepared to do the right things," Cook said.
 
Kyle Ashley led the Mids in the javelin for the third-straight meet with a sixth-place throw of 57.12 meters (187-5). Grace Coughlin set the pace on the women's side with a career-best throw of 39.14 meters (128-5) to secure fourth place.
 
Navy had an impressive showing in the hammer throw, led by Merrick Hocking, who tossed a season-best 57.86 meters (189-10) to finish in second place. Aaron Spears followed with a fourth-place performance at 56.08 meters (184-0).
 
Hunter-Robbins Mann recorded his best discus mark to date at 47.32 meters (155-3) to finish eighth. Nalina Smith led the event on the women's side with a sixth-place throw at 42.97 meters (140-11).
 
Mann went on to lead Navy in the shot put for the fifth-straight meet, finishing eighth with a throw of 15.53 meters (50-11.50).
 
"Mann has grown into himself the last three months and Coach [Chris] Campbell is very excited about his future," Cook remarked.
 
Smith continued her strong performance in the meet with a second-place mark in the hammer throw at 54.75 meters (179-7).
 
Gunnar Kimball recorded a career-best pole vault mark of 5.12 meters (16-09.50) to place second.
 
Track Events
In the 110-meter hurdles prelims, Logan Howe finished seventh overall in 14.75 seconds to qualify for the finals. Howe improved his time in the finals, running a 14.65 to place seventh.
 
In the first distance race of the day, Ben Marks paced the Mids in the 800-meter race with a sixth-place time of 1:54.01. Will Ditre crossed the finish line shortly after in 1:54.71 to take ninth place. In the women's race, Emily Maury ran a season-best time of 2:13.79 to finish fifth.
 
In the men's elite 800-meter race, Aidan Eberhardt finished in fifth place after crossing the line in 1:51.54. Tate Frost also ran a solid race, recording a time of 1:53.04 to place eighth.
 
Jessica Black raced in the 400-meter hurdles for the first time this season, leading the Midshipmen with a fifth-place time of 1:04.36.
 
Susanna Henderson shattered her personal-best 3,000-meter steeplechase time by 15 seconds with a sixth-place finish in 11:09.06.
 
James Partlow ran a strong 1,500-meter race, setting a new career-best time of 3:52.85 to finish 11th out of 59 competitors.
 
Eleanor Whisler ran a season-best 5,000-meter time of 17:32.64 to place third in the unseeded race.
 
Up Next
Navy returns to action next Saturday when the team travels to West Point to face Army in the annual Army-Navy Outdoor Star Meet.