PRINCETON, N.J. – A record-breaking 1,500-meter run and multiple all-time top-10 performances highlighted the Navy track and field teams' showing at the two-day Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton, N.J., this weekend.
 
Track Events
Matt Newell highlighted the meet by setting the school record in the 1,500 meters. Competing in the Mike Brady Elite 1,500 race, Newell clocked a time of 3:40.61, breaking the four-year-old record of 3:41.59 set by Alex Rizzo.
 
Sophia Richter secured a victory in the 400-meter dash with a career-best time of 53.81. Her strong final push bested Cornell's Francine Stevens (53.86) and goes down as the second-fastest 400-meter time in Navy history.
 
In the 100-meter hurdles, Jia Anderson provided a thrilling photo finish in the finals against Cornell's Arianna Allen. Anderson finished second with a time of 13.620—the second-best mark in school history—narrowly trailing Allen's winning time of 13.616. Anderson tied Allen for second in the preliminaries with a 13.91.
 
Sophie Compton continued her stellar season by clocking the second-fastest 1,500-meter time in school history at 4:20.63. Compton now remarkably owns the program's three fastest 1,500 times, all set this season.
 
Fueled by an impressive 1:08.80 in the final lap, team captain Mia-Claire Kezal delivered a second-place finish in Saturday's 1,500-meter race with a time of 4:26.22. Meanwhile, earlier in the meet, Kezal posted a personal-best time of 10:32.52 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to finish seventh. On the men's side of the steeplechase, Jonathan Skemp secured eighth place with a season-best time of 8:56.98.
 
Logan Flament ran his fastest 5,000 meters of the season, crossing the finish line in 14:06.89 to take fifth.
 
Navy saw a solid performance in the women's 800-meter race, which featured Catalina Simon (2:12.05) and Lexi Ensor (2:13.79) running season-best times to finish fourth and sixth, respectively. For the men, Ryan Du Plessis recorded the team's fastest 800-meter time of the season, finishing 14th at 1:50.55.
 
The men's 4x100-meter relay team of Fabian France, Conor McFadden, Simon Alexander and Cooper Wakley kicked off Saturday's track events by finishing third. The tightly-contested race saw the quartet clock a 40.38, just edging out Cornell's 40.61.
 
In the men's 110-meter hurdles, Jason Keiser and Bobby Wind both improved upon their preliminary times (14.22 and 14.44, respectively) to place in the top five of the finals. Keiser clocked a 14.20 for fourth place, and Wind finished fifth in 14.27. The men's 400-meter hurdles were led by David Walker, who ran a Navy season-best 52.41 for seventh place, while Ayden Henley finished 10th in 52.84.
 
McFadden paced the team in the men's 400-meter dash, taking seventh place in 47.93. Marcel Jackson led Navy in the 100-meter dash, finishing ninth with a time of 10.66.
 
Closing out the track events, the women's 4x400-meter relay squad of Peighton Marrero, Savannah Swanda, ChiChi Obasi and Richter finished third with a time of 3:46.36.
 
Field Events
Navy continued its strong season in the pole vault as Cooper Wakley claimed second place by clearing 5.20 meters (17-0.75), tying the program's 10th-best all-time mark. Adam Bell added a fourth-place finish in the event, clearing a season-best 5.05 meters (16-6.75).
 
William Pierce led Navy in the men's long jump, earning second place with a mark of 7.21 meters (23-8). Jordan Wolverton joined Pierce in the top ranks, jumping a season-best 7.05 meters (23-1.75) for sixth place.
 
In the throws, a pair of Mids earned top-five finishes in the javelin. Ethan DeLaurier took fourth with a throw of 59.68 meters (195-9) and Malachi Cummings followed in fifth at 59.42 meters (194-11). Merrick Hocking led the way in the hammer throw, placing fifth with a distance of 60.25 meters (197-8), while Aaron Spears took seventh with an impressive toss of 57.18 meters (187-7).
 
Up Next
The Mids will conclude the regular season next Friday when they play host to the Navy National Elite. The meet is scheduled to begin at noon.